When I See You
by Phrenzy
Summary: PLEASE R&R! Kori was a blind, homeless orphan when she won the factory and became the luckiest kid ever. How does Willy handle her disability? She and Willy work together, not only on candy, but to heal old wounds. mentions of rape and torture. LEMON!
1. Chapter 1

Standard disclaimers apply. Kori is my character :3

A/N:I've never written before so be sweet to me please! TTTT

Chapter One: Prelude to the Commencement of a Very Grand Adventure

Korban Gibson made her way up the crowded street. She could hear the voices and footsteps coming from her fellow passengers of the sidewalk. She tapped her walking stick back and forth, making sure there was no trash to trip over or patches of ice to slip on. Kori knew she had arrived at her destination when the sweet scent of freshly baked bread and pastries met her nostrils, and sat down in front of the bakery. The scents coming from it would be her meal today; she hadn't been able to obtain any money, so she breathed the sweet smell and pretended she could taste it. She leaned her head against the wall and began to daydream while she enjoyed her "meal."

_She had been blind since the day she was born, and homeless for the past five of her sixteen years of existence. Her parents had been very well known members of the topmost tier of the "middle class." Although they were in fact multi-millionaires, they still claimed middle class status so their equally rich friends would complement their humility. Korban Emilia Gibson was their second daughter; the first was perfect in the eyes of her parents, though Kori knew otherwise. When Kori was born, her parents had been mortified by their daughter's blindness. They feared that their neighbors would frown upon them and gossip that perhaps the Gibson genes were not as high-quality as they had been led to believe. Kori's parents took her to many expensive doctors in several states; each said that there was nothing that could be done for their daughter's eyesight. When the __Gibsons__ finally realized that the doctors were right, they devised a plan in which they would forsake their unfashionable disaster of a child. They set up a tent for her in the back yard of their downtown mansion, telling her that no child's life would be complete without a camping experience. While eleven year old Korban slept in her tent, her family packed their things and moved away. It did not take Kori very long to discover that she had been abandoned, but it never bothered her much. She got a few of her things that her family had left in the house and decided to be a real life street camper. After living on the street for five years, she had gotten to know her little area of downtown very well, even if she couldn't see it. Being deprived of sight, her other senses compensated by being extra sensitive. She could tell where she was by the smells of different building materials, and she could tell how many people were around her by the shuffling of clothes, cracking of joints, and sometimes even heartbeats. She had no use for reading, but music did for her what reading did for everyone else and more. It also happened to be that as she had never seen, she did not think in picture but sound and sense. If others dreamed of lying in a meadow of flowers, she dreamed of the feel and smell of the flowers, and any given melody that meant what she believed flowers would mean if they were a song..._

Kori's reflection was interrupted by the prissy clip-clop of high heels on pavement. A young child near her cried, "Mama! That girl doesn't have a house, can I give her my candy bar? Please?"

"Elwin, don't stand so close to her! She might have fleas or something," answered a slightly older female voice. Kori did well to hide her agitation at being interrupted and insulted by the same people. She didn't know what facial expressions were since she had never seen one, so her face remained blank while she informed her audience that she did not have fleas or anything of the sort, and that she sometimes bathed as often as three times a week whether she needed it or not.

"Humph, well you ought to bathe three times a day considering that you probably live in a dumpster," snapped the woman that must have been the children's mother. "Come dears, we must get Claire to her violin recital. Elwin you should keep your candy bar! There might be a golden ticket inside it, remember? What would your friends say if you gave up that magnificent prize? Now let's go." Kori heard the heels walk down the street, but a soft thud in her lap told her that the Elwin had tossed his candy bar to her behind his mother's back. She silently wished upon everything she could think of that that child's greatest dreams would come true someday.

She turned her attention to the candy bar, which she began to open. She unwrapped a corner of it and took a small bite, enjoying how smooth and rich the chocolate was. As she allowed her morsel to melt in her mouth, she became aware of something smooth and stiff that would not melt. She pulled it out of her mouth, and upon determining that the material was too think to be part of the wrapper, proceeded to open the candy bar the rest of the way. She discovered that there was a card of sorts made out of the same material as what she had bitten, and separated it from the chocolate so she could continue her feast.

She was again interrupted by a woman shouting, "Look there! That little blind girl has found a golden ticket!" Kori was soon surrounded by a mob of people wanting to look at her ticket, or maybe even snatch it from her. It became a very stressful situation indeed when she heard her walking stick being kicked away from her amid the chaos.

The stick was placed into her hand by a pair of warm, gloved ones. An old man's voice called to her, "Don't give that ticket to anyone!" Kori clutched the ticket to her chest and shoved her way through the crowd, which dissipated as suddenly as it had formed. The same old man stayed with her, however, and offered to read the ticket to her. He informed her that in precisely two hours, she was to report to the front gate of the chocolate factory, the big one on the other side of town, where she should be given a tour and then escorted home by a truck full of chocolate. He then offered to lead her there, providing that she allowed him to tour the factory with her. He thought his grandchildren might enjoy eating and sharing a lifetime supply of chocolate.

"Two hours! That's short notice, will everyone else get there on time?"

"My dear, the other children found their tickets weeks ago. There is no doubt in my mind that they have already been waiting outside the factory for a couple of hours. And by the way, you may call me Mr. Shinley." And with that, Korban's new friends led her towards the chocolate factory and the commencement of a very grand adventure.

A/N: PLEASE R&R!!! Let me know whether I should continue writing, and make some suggestions on what should happen next…


	2. Chapter 2

Standard disclaimers apply.

A/N:

"My, this is exciting, isn't it?" Mr. Shinley's voice was smiling; Kori supposed that she would be as

excited as her new friend if she had known what was going on, but she didn't, so she wasn't. She was standing on the very end of the line, so she amused herself by listening to the conversations of the other children standing with her. One girl's rich sounding father was asking her to be patient, another girl's mother was giving a pep talk, and one of the other children sounded like he was eating something. She could also hear the sound of an old man telling a boy named Charlie about how wonderful Mr. Wonka was.

As soon as the clock on a nearby church began to chime, a voice came from the loud speakers and called the ticket holders to enter the factory gates. The group of children and adults began to walk side by side until they stopped, and there was the sound of curtains opening. A dark, circus like tune began to play while some eerie voices sang the praises of Willy Wonka. Shortly after the performance began, Kori noticed the smell of peanuts and felt warmth that meant someone had come to stand beside her. When the music stopped, he began to chatter about how wonderful the finale of the performance was. He then introduced himself as Willy Wonka, chocolatier and owner of the magnificent factory in front of them. There was something in this person's voice that fascinated Kori. She resolved to learn as much as she could from him during the course of the day, and that she would remember this day for the rest of her life.

Willy Wonka led the group into a very warm room that echoed their voices and footsteps. Kori removed her coat like everyone else, and proceeded to walk with the rest of the group. She heard the children named Violet, Veruca, and Augustus introduce themselves to him, and he guessed the name of the other two boys. He then turned to Kori and asked, "You musta got your ticket through luck too, what's your name lil' girl?" They began to walk again while Kori answered him in her naturally gentle voice.

"You may call my Kori, but I'm not a little girl; I'm sixteen years old. I like your voice, it's very musical."

"Well then, Kori, what do you think of my amazing factory?" Kori turned her head towards him to answer, but upon seeing that her eyes were blind Mr. Wonka cut her off with a nervous giggle before addressing the group. "This is the most important room in my factory. The door is so small because it keeps the great big flavor inside!"

And so the rest of the day passed, Mr. Wonka leading the group through the factory, and each child disappearing when temptation became too much for them. Kori, however, was listening to everything Mr. Wonka said, trying to learn about the mind that had imagined such an elaborate and unusual factory. So far all she had learned was that the candy man seemed to have more flashbacks than she did, but not on purpose. His behavior did seem a bit odd, but she supposed that could happen to anyone who had spent so many years in the same building with a bunch of strange little people.

"How many children do we have left? Two? Oh boy! That means the tour is over!" Mr. Wonka sounded happier than he had all day.

"But Mr. Wonka, what about the grand prize?" Charlie's grandfather asked.

"What? Oh, yeah, we'll get to that. I just want to meet both of your--" Mr. Wonka started making noises, much like the ones a cat makes when it is about to regurgitate.

"Families?" Kori offered. Mr. Wonka had done this several times already. _What's his problem?_ Kori thought.

"Yeah, those…well, time to go then! It's a good thing we have the Great Glass Elevator to--" _CRASH!_ "—speed things a-long…" Kori heard Mr. Wonka snort and dust himself off as she stifled a giggle. The five climbed into the elevator and whooshed off towards Charlie's house, where they crashed through the ceiling. Kori stayed in the elevator, Mr. Shinley excused himself and headed home, and Mr. Wonka proceeded to tell Charlie and his family that Charlie would be given the most "Something something there's ever been!" if he chose to leave his family and live in the Chocolate Factory.

"I'm sorry, but I won't give up my family, not for anything in the world."

"Oh, well that's just…weird…" Mr. Wonka stepped back into the elevator and almost ran into Kori. "Ah! You were being so quiet, I forgot you were there! Where do you live, I should meet your fa- fa- yeah."

"I don't have a family or a home. It's just me, Mr. Wonka."

"Well that makes it easy then! Are you ready to give up…nothing, and live with me in the factory as my heir and apprentice? And call me Willy, by the way. You make me feel old when you call me Mr. Wonka, haha." Willy's voice was smiling.

"Sure, why not?" Kori really didn't have anything to lose, after all.

For some reason, the pair decided to walk back to the factory instead of taking the elevator. Kori told Willy about her rather uneventful life on the street, and how she enjoyed music and warm weather. She learned that Willy was germaphobic, which was why he covered up as much of his skin as possible and never let anyone touch him. Although Kori suspected that there were deeper reasons for being so stand-offish, she did not push the issue. They also discussed how Willy would teach Kori everything he knew about making candy, and that it would be fun to come up with new ideas together. "It'll be kinda like school, but with candy!" Willy giggled.

The more Willy talked, the more comfortable Kori became. That is, until they arrived at the gates to the factory. They had forgotten that there would probably be people still waiting for them to come out of the factory. There were, tons of them, and they were shoving and crowding around Willy and Kori like a mob. They barraged them with questions like "Can you tell us what the grand prize is? Where are the other children? How will you live with a little blind girl in your factory? Is she of age? What do her parents think about her living with you? How does the factory run?" It was so overwhelming that Willy began to have an anxiety attack and fainted. Kori caught him and eased him to the ground, then she picked up his cane and started swinging.

"Back off, the lot of you! Go away and give us some air! Back off I said!" She could hear the clicking of cameras and footsteps walking towards Willy, she kept swinging and shouting until eventually the journalists left. She kneeled beside Willy and began fanning him, occasionally feeling his face to make sure he did not have a fever of some sort. Actually, she knew he was fine, but she wanted to take advantage of the situation by memorizing his face and hair, which were both incredibly soft. While her hand was hovering near Willy's cheek, she heard him gasp and her wrist was suddenly in a death grip. "Oh! I'm so sorry Willy I promise I'll never touch you again I really am sorry just _please_ let go of my arm." Kori apologized profusely.

Willy let go. "What happened after I passed out? Let's go inside." The gates clanked open and Kori followed Willy inside.

"I chased everyone away by swinging your stick at them, then I waited for you to wake up."

"Oh…well, thanks! C'mon, I can't wait to show…er…introduce you to your new room!"

The Next Day

Kori and Willy were eating a silent breakfast….

A/N: hmm. i just don't know.


	3. Chapter 3

A/n: I hope no one else thinks this fic is supposed to be realistic. After all, the whole idea behind fiction is to go against reality right? And when did I ever claim to know anything about blindness besides the fact that blind people can't see? Never. So there.

p.s. this chapter is fricken long! Compared to the others, anyway 3

The Next Day

Kori and Willy were eating a silent breakfast. Well, a breakfast without talking anyway. Kori could hear Willy sigh and turn the pages of his newspaper in an aggravated sort of way every few seconds. She clinked her fork against her plate and breathed the scent of Willy's coffee. It smelled weird compared to what she had gotten used to smelling while living on the street. It smelled rich and strong, and there were hints of chocolate and cinnamon. It was intoxicating, and the only thing it made Kori thinks about was Willy. He was truly a puzzle. He let a perfect stranger—a dirty, homeless one at that—come live in his factory where even the most impossible ideas could become a reality with the use of his infinitely brilliant mind. However, he had acted just like a child during some parts of the tour, and sometimes just downright antisocial, like when that loud girl hugged him. She could tell that he didn't like being touched because the change in his voice let her know that his throat, and probably the rest of him, had become tense. She supposed that he would get used to having her around, and that being the only human in the factory for so long had somehow stunted his social development; it was actually kind of endearing. That's what really bugged her though. If he was so uncomfortable around other humans, why would he let her live with him and share the most important thing in his life with her?

Kori lost her train of thought when she heard Willy turn the page of the newspaper again. She gently scratched her fingertips against the smooth surface of the table and asked, "Willy, what's wrong? Are you mad at me?"

Willy put his paper down. "Why would I be mad at you? That's just weird! No, I'm mad at those photographers and journalists that swarmed us yesterday. It wasn't very nice of them to cause problems and then take pictures and write mean things about us in the paper." Willy sighed again and took a sip of coffee. He sat his cup back down with hardly a clink.

Kori could understand why he was upset now. "What did they write?"

"Uh, don't worry about it; it's just a bunch of poppycock anyway. Say, what do ya say we go on another tour of the factory? This time I'll go into more detail and you'll get to see…uh…experience more rooms than we went to the other day" Willy surprised Kori by leading her by taking her by the hand himself. Although she could tell that he wasn't completely comfortable because he only allowed her to hold one finger, it made her feel good that he was taking steps to get used to her presence. He wore squeaky rubber gloves. He led her around every part of the factory that they went to on the tour, but this time he went into more detail about each room. About the inventing room, he told Kori, "Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with an idea, and I come in here and start working. Boy, those are my favorite times to work, because my ideas give me so much energy. Know what I mean?" It was kind of difficult for Kori to learn much in the inventing room because she wasn't allowed to touch anything. Willy talked a lot when he was excited, she could tell. She swore he must have told her everything he knew about everything in the inventing room, and he even let her taste an Everlasting Gobstopper. Kori didn't like the inventing room much, though. It was much too noisy because of the machinery, and she could hardly hear Willy's explanations over it. Willy led her to the boat and they rode to the chocolate room.

Kori's favorite room, besides her living quarters, was the chocolate room. The only sounds came from the waterfall, the sweet little sugar birds that hopped around in the grass and whistled cute little tunes, and the occasional Oompa Loompa who came in to do groom a few of the "plants." She and Willy sat down on the grass, and Willy picked up a sugar bird and gave it to Kori to hold. Although she held it gently, it felt like it was made from marshmallows and cotton candy, which were almost as soft as real feathers. Kori patted the little bird on its head and let it hop back down to the ground. When she did, Willy asked her, "So what do you think? About the factory, I mean."

Kori inhaled the scent from the minty grass mixed with the warm chocolaty aroma coming from the river. She replied, "I can't even see it, but it's still beautiful. All the new smells are amazing, and the sounds are too. I keep telling myself that I'm only dreaming, and that I'll wake up any second and be back in my alley. The only sounds and smells will be coming from the bums snoring a little ways away from me. I really can't thank you enough, honestly." Kori wove her fingers through the blades of grass. She remembered the last time she had felt grass. She had been sitting outside her tent the night her family left her behind. This minty grass didn't feel the same, but she liked it better because it promised nothing but happiness for her.

"Hey, Kori?" Kori snapped out of her flashback when Willy addressed her. If she knew how to smile, she would have because both she and Willy recently seemed to be having frequent flashbacks. She turned her head in his direction and the musical voice addressed her again. "What was your life like, before you came here?"

Kori changed positions and proceeded to tell Willy about how her parents had been too worried that they would be frowned upon because they had a blind daughter. She told him about all the doctors they had taken her to, and how none of them knew how to cure her blindness. Then she told him that they had just up and left her one day, and that she'd been living in an alley ever since. It had taken her a few days to find the alley, though. She had just wandered around tapping her stick and feeling walls until she discovered the alley between a bakery and some obscure little shop. She told him her story, but it did not take very long since she did pretty much the same thing every day. That was, she sat outside the bakery and breathed the scent, occasionally being given a loaf of bread by a kind stranger. She would occasionally sit and listen to the bums tell her about how evil the police were, so every time one of them would see a cop coming they'd shout "I smell fish!" and she'd run into the alley. She never knew that they would take her to a new family if they saw her, she was just afraid of them because the bums told her to be.

When she finished, Willy said "Hey, let me look at your eyes." She could hear him move closer to her, and she could feel and smell his breath on her face. It didn't smell bad like the bums' did; it smelled like minty grass. He probably mixed it into his toothpaste. After a minute, Willy moved away and said "They're kind of weird looking."

"Well, thanks a lot." Kori said in a snarky tone.

"No! I mean that sometimes Oompa Loompas are born blind, too. They never live long enough for me to research it at all, but it kind of looks like they have some kind of salty-calcium-like film covering their eyes. I've read about people having little spots of calcium on their face, maybe it's kind of like that. Does it ever hurt?"

"Sometimes it's scratchy when I can't find anything to drink for a while."

"Oh…well, guess what! I've got a sur-prize for you!" Willy's voice went from being kind of serious back to its usual energetic tone. "I signed you up for school! Neat, huh? I figured that since you're a kid and all, it's only fair that you get to do what normal kids do. I did some research on what normal kids do, and normal kids go to school. Yeah. Then I called the public school down the street and signed you up. It'll be so much fun! You can learn math and history and everything, and you'll be in a special class so you can learn even though you're blind. Cool, huh?"

Kori remembered that her parents had sent her to an expensive private academy for blind children. She wasn't ever there much because she was always at the doctor, so she didn't really remember anything that they had tried to teach her. She figured that since Willy seemed so excited about it, then school must be a fun thing that she should be excited about too. "It will be great!" she told Willy.

The next thing she knew, she was in the glass elevator. When it touched down and the doors opened, she could tell she was in her room because it smelled like honey. Willy had asked her earlier what her favorite smell was. How he had managed to make her room smell exactly like honey and not like an air freshener, Kori would never know, but it made her room her favorite room in the factory. That, and Willy had filled it with the softest chairs and bed imaginable, and every fabric, surface, knickknack, et cetera had a different texture. There was also a small, round stereo on a table between the two smushiest armchairs, and in one little section of the room was a small, babbling fountain surrounded by a low bench, plants, and flowing curtains on the wall. The walls had a smooth wooden chair rail around them, and Willy had told her that the wall above the chair rail tasted like vanilla, and the wall below the chair rail tasted like chocolate. He had made sure that her room would stimulate every sense that she did have. That was one reason Kori liked him. In his isolation he had forgotten how to relate to other people, but he still cared about their happiness. That was why he became a chocolatier, he told her; it was his way of making the world a happier, funnier place.

They stepped out of the elevator and several Oompa Loompas greeted them with their cheerful little voices. They immediately started measuring Kori with tape. Before Kori could even ask, Willy answered, "The Oompa Loompas are going to make you clothes to wear to school. They will kind of look like what I wear every day, except that what I wear probably wouldn't flatter you very much." Kori opened her mouth to speak, but once again Willy beat her to it. "Now I know there's no point in wearing flattering clothes when your class will be full of blind children, but your teachers will be able to see you and you will be walking through hallways full of the school's _normal_ students, and with these neat duds, everyone will think you're a snappy dresser." The Oompa Loompas had started measuring her, wrapping fabric around her, and cutting and sewing. The flurry of action was so overwhelming that Kori could only giggle as a dozen itsy-bitsy hands pulled and pushed at her.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I've never been to a public school a day in my life, add that to standard disclaimers and voila!

_Blackness. That's it. That's all she ever saw. She could hear just fine, and feel, and smell, and taste. But black was all she ever saw. It was all she could see now. She could hear her footsteps echoing along the—she didn't know where. Every few seconds, she could hear and feel the wind of something as it passed near her, making the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. She just kept walking, hoping whatever it was couldn't tell how afraid she was. It was probably nothing, just a ceiling fan or something, if only she could see…that would solve plenty of problems right now. It passed her again, but closer. Suddenly, strong arms wrapped around her from behind, restricting her arms. She kicked and struggled as whoever had her seemed to be dragging her somewhere. Then nothing again. He had thrown her over some edge, she was falling towards certain death. She had no idea how far away the ground was, her muscles tensed in preparation for a rough landing that seemed to be eternities away. She finally landed on a cold, hard floor. It hurt, but she hadn't splattered into a million pieces like she thought she would. Her wind was knocked out and she was covered in bruises. She struggled to get her breath back to normal and slowly stood up. The standing part was difficult, because other people kept running into her, upsetting her balance. Apparently they were just as blind as she was, because they did not acknowledge her. Apparently they could not feel her as they ran into her either. She determined what direction they were heading and limped after them, flexing a single muscle sent bolts of pain through her entire body, but she knew the crowd would lead her out of this place eventually. She called out to anyone, hoping someone would help. Nothing. She felt the crowd thin, they seemed to be forming a circle, but they wouldn't let her join. They pushed her into the center. Something hit her, it knocked her down. She felt for the thing on the ground, it was a rock, the size of one of her shoes. More rocks flew past and around her, some of them hit her. The crowd was trying to kill her! She curled up on the ground, trying to protect her head with her arms. The whole time calling out for help, begging them to stop, she hadn't done anything to them! The barrage stopped, but she remained in her protective position. A hand touched her on the shoulder. She uncurled, and the hand gently held her arm as she stood up. The hand led her through the crowd and then let go. She froze immediately. Was this person really trying to save her? Or had it just led her into a more dangerous place? Was she still surrounded by strangers? What did they want from her? She heard them chasing her, but she was in too much pain to run. Even if she wasn't, she would surely run into something and then they'd catch her and tear her to pieces. They were shouting, laughing. The hand again. It was back, but instead of guiding her to safety, it was pushing on her shoulder, it was pushing her towards the mob! She turned towards it and started swatting at it and telling it to leave her alone._

"But I thought you wanted this," _Kori kept swatting at the hand, but now instead of pushing her it was poking her. That was annoying. _"Come on, wakey wakey! Cock-a-doodle-doo! Kori!" _Poke, Poke._

Kori gasped and sat upright, grabbing the wrist attached to the hand that was poking her. Strange, she wasn't in pain anymore. Was she dead? Wait, no. She was in her bed. If she could see, she would have noticed a lot sooner that she had woken up, and that she had Willy's wrist in a death grip. His wrist, that was past his hand! She loosened her grip but did not let go, she wanted to learn about this new wrist. It was velvety, like her blazer. Willy's jacket was just like hers.

Willy gently pulled his arm away from her. "Jeez, you sleep like a rock! Hurry up and get dressed, and then come eat breakfast with me. But uh, Wait until I get outside this time." Willy's weight lifted from the bed, a few seconds later her door shut and she could hear him say, "Okay, I'm outside now!"

She shrugged her shoulders and got out of bed. As she dressed, she tried not to think about that nightmare or what it might mean. It was just a dream after all. She went to her door and opened it, Willy was waiting for her.

"Wow, that was fast! Now we've got to get a move on. Today's going to be a very busy day!" Willy led her to the kitchen, where she could already smell eggs and biscuits. The dining table only had two seats, because no one ever visited and because the Oompa Loompas were too short to eat at the table. Kori sat down and Willy passed her a plate. She opened up one of her biscuits and felt for the cream cheese. Once her biscuit was nice and cream cheesy she took a bite and said, "Hey, Willy? How am I going to get to school?"

"I knew you'd ask that, haha! Well, I've got this limousine that I never ride in, because I never go anywhere. It's got really dark windows so I figured we can ride in that, that way I can ride with you and no one will see me! Neat, huh?"

"Haha, yeah, that will be fun!"

They finished their breakfast and walked to the garage, which is where all the delivery trucks stayed, and Willy's limo. Kori knew what limousines were. They were for famous people to ride around in. She knew Willy was famous, but he never acted like he wanted to be. She shrugged and climbed into the back seat, and Willy got in beside her. The limo started moving, and Kori was beginning to think that Willy was more excited than she was. On the way to school, they talked about regular things. Willy told Kori about the history of the factory, including the part about people stealing his recipes. Her favorite part was when he told her about how he found the Oompa Loompas, and she laughed when she imagined him trying to understand Oompa Loompa language for the first time. It wasn't a long limo ride, because they stopped in front of the school just as Willy was finishing his story.

"We're here! Have a great day at school, Kori! Remember, the squirrels here won't come to you when you whistle, and don't play pranks on any teachers!"

Kori laughed. "Aw, man. There goes my plans for the entire day! Thanks a lot! Haha, bye Willy! You have a good day too!" Kori grabbed her walking stick from the floorboard and climbed out of the car. As soon as she got out, the principal of the school took her hand and led her into the office. She could hear the woman try to shout some kind of greeting to Willy.

"My, I've never seen him in person before! He's so handsome! Oh how exciting, I feel like a schoolgirl!" The principal sighed, and Kori all of a sudden felt very awkward. Women thought Willy was handsome? She never imagined him as the kind of guy who would have ladies panting after him left and right, but then again, Violet Beauregarde's mother had tried to make a pass at him. The principal tugged at her hand. "Come on, sweetie. We've got to go to my office and get all your paperwork filled out, and then you can go meet all your new classmates!" Kori wondered if the principal was really that nice, or if she was just being nice because Kori knew Willy. The lady led her to the office and sat her in hard, leather upholstered chair. "Now, sweetie, I need you to tell me your full name, age, birthday, and address."

Kori sighed. "Korban Emelia Gibson, 16, January 13th, and I don't know the address of the factory yet, I'm sorry."

"Oh don't worry, I'll get the address off of the next box of Wonka bars when the man comes to refill the snack machines. Now tell me, who is your primary guardian." The principal ruffled some papers and scribbled her pen against them.

"Um, I don't think I have one. I've been living on my own for a long time and uh, I live with Willy now, but I don't know if that makes him my guardian or not. I don't think it does." Kori fidgeted in the chair.

"Oh, how sweet! You're already on a first name basis with him!" About a half hour passed in which the principal asked Kori questions regarding her personality and learning habits, just so the teachers could get a better idea of how to provide what each student needed the most. She also asked some very personal questions about Willy, which Kori nervously explained that she didn't know him that well yet. Kori was glad when it ended, and the principal led her to her first classroom. She opened the door and they walked in. The principal introduced Kori: "Boys and girls, this is your new classmate Kori Gibson. She's one of the lucky children who found a golden ticket, and now she lives in the chocolate factory with Willy Wonka! Now, Kori, go ahead and take a seat. I'm sure you'll have plenty of new friends by the time the day ends! Bye now!"

As Kori felt her way towards an empty desk, she could hear various whisperings about tickets, factories, and celebrities. It made her feel awkward, to be honest. She knew she wasn't being looked at, but it sure felt like it. As soon as she took a seat, the teacher began talking about the Crusades while passing out textbooks written in Braille, which Kori barely remembered how to read from elementary school. She decided to pay very close attention to what the teacher said instead of pretending to follow along in the book. No one talked to her during class. It was like that for the rest of the day, except that she heard more whispering in the hallway. It was really starting to bug her, because she didn't like feeling like she was only being paranoid. At lunch, none of her classmates attempted to befriend her but some of the kids that could see let her sit with them. They educated Kori on the topics of anime and Homestar Runner. Although Kori had no idea what they were talking about, she liked their humor. She listened to their conversations and laughed at the parts she understood. She learned their names and how to recognize their voices. Caroline had a low, slow, dark sounding voice. Robert had a Midwestern accent. Victor had a high pitched voice and talked fast, and Liz always sounded happy and enthusiastic, even when she was talking about something sad. However, although these people were very nice, they didn't seem to be very popular. Other kids would walk past and purposefully bump into their table, calling them names and saying things like "You're lucky that new girl can't see you freaks!" or "What's a celebrity doing talking to losers like you, she should associate with the people who are actually worth something, like those of us whose fathers have good connections." Or, worst of all, "how cute, looks like the circus has a new act, girls! A blind clown! I used to think that Willy Wonka was a major hottie, but if he kicks around with freaks like _you_, now he's just a hottie with mental problems!"

Kori stood up from her seat and hissed, "Don't you _ever_ talk about him like that! There's nothing wrong with his mind!"

"Yeah, right! What kind of _idiot_ picks someone as useless as you? You can't even see what you're doing! He'd have to take all his time off work to lead your sorry self around, you'll only get in his way! And he must have terrible fashion sense, to let you out looking like _that_. Actually, as rich as he is he probably dresses like a prince. You must have had to pick that out yourself, he probably didn't want to be in the room to see you change clothes, look how _scrawny_ you are! Gross!" The attacker's voice was high and whiny, and saturated with conceit and condescension.

Kori balled her fists, clenching so hard that her fingernails drew blood from her palms. "N-no, you're wrong! He's generous, and he let's me help him with everything! And he's humble!" Her voice was beginning to shake.

"Cut it out Justine. Go bother someone who gives a shit." Victor warned, he and the rest of the group had stood up behind Kori, whose whole body was shaking by now.

"Apparently Princess Lolly gives a shit. Just look at her, poor little thing is about to cry, she's soooo mad! Haha!" One of Justine's sidekicks chimed in.

The other sidekick spoke up, "You know, I read in the newspapers that Willy Wonka _is_ kind of a nut job. But's I'd still bang him if I ever got the chance, he's _scrum-diddly-umptious_!"

Kori yelled, "Don't disrespect him like that, you slut!"

Justine retorted, "Or what? You'll spill chocolate in our hair? I'm so terrified. And she's right, I'd just _love_ to see Wonka's willy!" Justine pushed Kori's shoulder.

Kori had had enough. While Justine was talking, she had figured out where she was standing and how tall she was, she lifted one of her balled fists and struck where she estimated Justine's face to be. She struck gold, her knuckles connected hard with Justine's cheekbone. She withdrew her fist and wiped the makeup that had come off the girl's face on a napkin.

"You little _bitch_!" Justine sounded like she was going to cry from the pain. Instead, she slapped Kori across the face, hard. Her fingernails scratched Kori's cheek. Kori made to lunge at her but Robert and Caroline held her back. Justine laughed. "Come on girls, I'm tired of looking at these freaks, especially the feisty one, her eyes give me the creeps." The trio walked off, making sure to complement each other on what they said so that everyone in the cafeteria could hear. Kori sat back down, her face hot and tears streaming down her face. Liz scratched her back, hoping to comfort her.

"Aw, Kori, don't cry" she said. "Those three pick on anyone who doesn't worship the ground they walk on." It didn't help much, what bothered Kori were the terrible things Justine had said about Willy, and the worry that some of what she said might be true. She was about to have a new worry to distract her, though.

The principle's voice came over the intercom, "Korban Gibson, please report to the school office to sign out for the day, there's a limousine here to pick you up." Kori wiped the tears from her face and stood, holding her head high. Victor got up to escort her to the office. She could hear whispering and snickering as she exited the cafeteria, but she decided not to let it faze her. She signed out in the office and Victor led her outside, where he opened the limo door for her.

"Hey, cheer up. You're better than them. Actually, you're a lot better than them because you don't _act_ like you are. See you tomorrow." He helped her into the back seat and closed the door behind her.

"Hello, dearie."

A/N: R&R, you know the drill. In case you didn't notice, Elizabeth, Victor, Robert, Justine, and Caroline are all names of characters from _Frankenstein_.


	5. Chapter 5

Standard disclaimers apply…R&R!

A/N: I got the idea of torture from St. Minority's "Parasitic Workers" If it's not ok with her/him, let me know and I'll edit the chapter 3 p.s. I'm totally rocking out to beauty and the beast right now.

"Hello, dearie."

Kori immediately knew there was a problem. "Who are you?! Let me out of this car right now!"

"Now, dearie I can't let you jump out of a moving car, now can I? Drive," the command was issued to the driver. "You may call me Mister Slugworth."

"She's pretty." There was a third person in the car, he sounded much younger than Slugworth and had a European accent. "I am Sebastian, Mr. Slugworth's protégé, just as you are Mr. Wonka's protégé." Sebastian lifted Kori's chin with his index finger and stroked her jaw with his thumb.

Kori shoved his hand away "Don't touch me! I know who you are! Willy told me about you, and how you stole his secret recipes! You traitor, criminal! You're making money from _his_ ideas! Look at you, even now you're copying him, naming an heir!" Kori was shouting.

Slugworth chuckled. "Oh, that cuts me to the core, truly. You're absolutely right. Tell me, did precious Willy tell you _how_ I obtained his recipes?" Kori shook her head. "Ah, I thought not. You see, I _tortured _him. I had to fight him, of course. He is stronger than he looks. Once I subdued him, however, I tied him up, stripped him completely naked, I stuck a hundred needles into his flawless skin, and sent a strong electrical current through each and every one. He looked so _beautiful_ writhing and screaming in pain, it made me sick. I removed the needles, and my belt, and beat him. I asked where the key to his desk was, and he told me and begged me to stop, I was enraptured. I wrapped my belt around his exquisite neck, I couldn't resist taking a bite, or thirty, all over his body. I made sure to bite as hard as I could each time until he whimpered, and then I beat him again so he wouldn't forget it. After that, I could no longer resist the temptation. I took him. The sounds of his screams and the sight of him curled up, bleeding and shaking on his office floor stayed in my mind. It was truly my greatest masterpiece. Why, whatever is the matter, dearie? You don't look well."

Indeed, Kori was not well. She had her head on her knees, with her hands clutched in her hair, she was sobbing uncontrollably. She screamed, "You monster! You have a black heart and a black soul! You bastard! You're the reason I can't touch him! You deserve to burn in hell and suffer tortures a thousand times worse than those you inflicted on him! How could you do something so terrible?! How could you ruin someone so innocent? Why did you tell me that? Let me out of this car!" Kori put her head back on her knees and continued sobbing.

"Yes, let your anger consume you! It is fantastic, wonderful! You see, dearie, I know your precious Willy has some amazing new candies in the works, and I want them. I shall bargain with the chocolatier, I will offer you, in once piece, in return for his secrets. Of course, you have only known each other for a couple of days, surely he would value his secrets more than you." Slugworth chuckled again, she could hear him open a bottle of champagne and pour two glasses. He must have given the other one to Sebastian, because he didn't hand it to Kori.

"You bastard." Kori put as much venom as she could muster into her words.

Slugworth laughed again and handed Kori a cell phone, it was already ringing. "You better let dear Willy know that you've gotten yourself into trouble."

The phone stopped ringing. "Hello?" Willy's voice sounded uncertain.

"Willy, I'm so sorry, I'm sorry."

"Who…Kori? What's wrong? Where are you, are you in trouble?" Willy really sounded panicked.

"I'm not hurt, and I'm not in trouble yet, but you are. Don't give in, Willy, please." Kori's words were interspersed with sobs.

"Kori, tell me what's going on!"

"I'm with Slugworth! He came to the school in a limo and the principle thought it was you coming to pick me up early! Don't listen to a word he says, he's trying to get more recipes out of you!" Kori screamed into the phone.

"Stupid girl." Slugworth slapped Kori and took the phone. "Hello, darling. Do you miss me?" He said into the phone. "Your girl here is giving me trouble, I'd like to give her back to you, but you've got to give something to me in return."

"NO! Don't listen to him!" Kori screamed loud enough so that Willy could hear her on the other end.

Slugworth slapped her again and shouted, "Shut up! Sebastian! Restrain her!" Sebastian grabbed Kori's wrists and wrapped them with duct tape, he put some over her mouth as well. "Now then, I'd like the recipe for your Everlasting Gobstoppers. That is all, we are at your gates now; you should take some time to think." Slugworth sounded smug as he hung up the phone. He waited until he saw the gates open, and Willy running towards them, to open the door. He stepped out first, then Sebastian shoved Kori out of the car and to where Slugworth stood. Slugworth held her across the shoulders with one arm, his free hand stroked her hair and he held her against his body.

"Slugworth! Get your hands off of her!" Willy shouted.

Slugworth gave his most evil chuckle yet. "It's nice to see you again, Willy. My, this brings back the memories, doesn't it?" Kori struggled against Slugworth and managed to stomp on one of his feet. He shook her hard and wrapped his free hand around her throat, squeezing just hard enough to make breathing difficult (especially with duct tape over her mouth). "She's more of a handful than I expected. You know, Willy, she doesn't approve of the way I got those first recipes from you. She says it's all my fault that she can't touch you! Haha! And she seems to value your sorry recipes more than her own life. Stupid girl."

"Leave her alone, I've got what you asked for." Willy stepped closer, when he was within arms reach, Slugworth grabbed the collar of his jacked and pulled him close, so that Kori was smooshed in between them.

"Aww, now that's no fun." Slugworth pouted. "I was hoping I would get to repeat some of my previous tricks." Kori heard the sound of Slugworth swooping in and stealing a kiss from Willy.

"Don't touch me!" Willy screamed and pushed Slugworth's shoulders to put distance between them. He threw the recipe, Slugworth caught it in front of Kori's face. "And if you ever come near me or Kori again, there's going to be trouble!"

Slugworth read the recipe and laughed. "Fine, be a party pooper. So long, sweethearts!" He shoved Kori hard in Willy's direction. She lost her balance and fell at his feet, scraping her knees and elbows. The tires of the limousine screeched away as Willy knelt beside Kori and removed the tape from her mouth and wrists. As soon as her hands were free, Kori buried her face in them and began to sob violently.

"Kori, shh, you're safe now. It's going to be ok." Willy held her hand and helped her get up, then he led her into the factory and into the kitchen, with Kori crying and apologizing the whole way. He led her into the kitchen, where Kori stood behind him while he put some water for tea on the stove. When he turned around to sit, Kori threw herself into his chest, clutched the front of his jacket, and continued her apologetic weeping. Willy's entire body tensed; he gently held her shoulders and pushed her away, holding her at arm's length. To have never seen another human face, hers was still very expressive. He briefly thought that if he could see her eyes, his heart would probably be torn in half from the pain that would undoubtedly flow from them.

"I'm so sorry, please, I'm sorry…I'm so sorry." Kori sobbed and covered her face with her hands. "I got in a fight, I'm so sorry, I was supposed to be…representing you, but I did a bad job, I'm sorry. Today was terrible, and I feel terrible because I feel ungrateful not having a good time, but I am grateful! You've done so much for me and I'm sorry!" She cried even harder to make up for the sobs lost while speaking.

"Kori, I…after every thing that just happened with…you're apologizing because you think I think you're ungrateful?" Kori's only response was to let go of his jacket and sink to the floor, and continue to mumble apologies.

"And I'm sorry for touching you just now, and I'm sorry for why I can't touch you, for what he…and I'm sorry I got in the wrong car, and I'm sorry you had to give him the recipe because of me, and I'm sorry that you have to waste all your time leading me around, and I'm sorry I'm blind and useless, and I'm sorry about what Justine said about you, and…and…"

Willy knelt beside her. "Shh, you're not embarrassing, or useless. In fact, I'm proud of you for defending me. That's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me. As far as giving away my recipes, I wrote a fake one. When Slu…those gobstoppers will burn people's mouths. And from now on, I will get out of the car and walk to you when it's time to leave school. Forget about Sl—Sl—"

"…Slugworth…" Kori was no longer crying, but she was in the midst of post-tears hyperventilation. She had also sat up. "He's a terrible person, he should be reported to the police."

Willy sighed. "No, the best we can do is avoid him at all costs, and try not to fall into any more of his traps, and pretend nothing's happened when we do have to be near him. That's why I'll be fetching you from school from now on."

"I'm not talking about today, Willy. What he did to you was much worse."

Willy stood up to make the tea. "He shouldn't have told you about that." He went to a cupboard and took out two cups.

"Well, he did. And I can't help but feel terribly sorry for you. I wish I could make it better." Kori reached for the edge of the table, and stood up when she found it. She walked to stand beside Willy. "Don't you miss getting hugs?"

"A small part of me does. But there are nightmares, they scare me into not being able to trust anyone."

"Willy?"

"Yeah?"

"I…I'd like you to be able to trust me, someday."

Willy handed her a cup of tea and they sat at the table. "I'd like to be able to trust you too, someday. After all, how can the candies we make together be any good without trust?" His usual tone returned, and he sipped his tea.

_After all that, he's thinking about candy? How can he just shut off that part of himself so easily? _Kori sipped her tea as well, it was delicious and had a bit of spice to it.

"Oh, that reminds me. We've got big plans to make!" Willy sound excited, as if the previous conversation had never happened. "In two months, in April, is a big Candymakers' Convention, it happens every year! Every candymaker has to introduce their candy plans for the coming year, and make a nice display."

"What kinds of candies will you be introducing?" Was he starting to rub off on her already? Kori was able to temporarily forget things and get excited as well. _It's all those doggone cocoa beans, ha_.

"Well, I was walking through the garden the other day and I thought, 'my garden is so beautiful, I should add to it. Better yet, I should share it.' That's all I've got so far."

"You mean, like little potted plants that people could keep on their desks for a while, then eat? Or even transfer them to a window garden if they wanted?"

"Hey, that's a great idea! We could even go a step further and make _seeds_ that people have to plant in a sugar solution and grow themselves!"

"And the seeds could come with different flavor packets so people can mix their own flavors, or even add flavors of their own!"

"Like Dijon mustard!"

"Eww, that sounds great!"

They stayed up very late that night, chattering about their plans for the next two months.

A/N: Just to be safe, I'm upping the rating.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thanks to The Wonka Empire for all the support!

Two months had passed in no time at all it seemed. At school, now only the most die hard minions of Justine continued to pester her. Everyone else had come to respect her for punching the bitch in the face. Many people still tried to get in good with her in hopes of getting in good with Willy, and Kori was tiring of the fact that all anyone thought of him as was a heartthrob who makes great candies. Their wishes to meet him were granted, however, because he came to pick Kori up every day. She would wait on the front steps until he held his hand out to her and said, "Why are you sitting around? We've got a great number of things to do!" People would usually crowd around them and try to ask Willy questions, which he usually answered as best as he could under the stress of being in a crowd.

At the factory, they had added a whole number of new plants to the chocolate garden. These plants could also be grown in pots from seeds that looked like miniature jellybeans. They took about a week to grow into sunflowers, daisies, roses, daffodils, violets, and lilies. They had also made little potted saplings, that would grow into either ornamental pear or cherry trees, and they made climbing plants such as wisteria, jasmine, and some make-believe plants. Every plant gave off the scent of its natural counterpart, but had a light, sweet taste that could was affected by the flavorings people put in. Willy liked the lilies, he said he liked the color when he combined grape and strawberry flavoring. Magenta.

Kori had gotten to help a lot with making the plants. She was allowed to pour and stir mixtures, hand mold the seeds (machines wouldn't be gentle enough, Willy said), and invent and test flavors. She was also in charge of making sure that each plant appealed to every sense besides sight, which they did. They all felt just like real plants, right down to the cool, silky texture of the petals. They smelled like real plants too. The only difference was that these plants were candy, and they tasted like candy.

The menagerie of plants had to be loaded into one of Willy's delivery trucks and secured. The ride to the convention was eight hours, and they had to worry about bumps in the road tumbling the trees and pots and other candymakers breaking into the truck and trying to steal or sabotage their display. SomeOompa Loompas loaded the truck while others helped Willy and Kori pack their suitcases. Willy talked on the phone trying to find out when the truck driver would be arriving, and Kori listened to an Oompa Loompa describe and tell stories about Loompaland.

The driver arrived at around 3 in the afternoon. Kori climbed into the front of the truck and sat in the middle of the bench seat, next to the driver. Willy sat near the window. They enjoyed the first few hours of the drive, all three singing along with the radio, telling jokes and funny stories, and goofing around as best as they could in a crowded truck. Once it started getting dark, Willy's attention span had been used up, and he fell asleep. He leaned against the window and his hat fell off; Kori held it in her lap and made small talk with the driver, making sure he stayed awake.

It was 11:00 when they arrived at the hotel. Unfortunately, everyone that would be at the convention was staying at the same hotel. This included the press and the other candymakers. The lobby wasn't crowded, however, because it was late and everyone was either asleep or on the town. The convention center was only a block away from the hotel, so the driver dropped Willy and Kori off and took the truck there. Willy got the room key, and they rode the elevator for what seemed like a long time. When they finally got to their room, Kori was all set to put on her pajamas and sleep, but when they opened the door Willy said, "Aww, shoot. I asked for two beds."

Kori groaned. "Is there a sofa? I'll sleep there, I'm just ready to go to sleep."

"There's a loveseat and a chair, you're kinda shrimpy but you're still probably too tall to sleep on it. You'll get a neck cramp or something. We can just sleep on opposite ends of the bed. It's a king size."

"Hey, I'm not shrimpy! Am I? How tall are we? Are you sure, because I can sleep on the floor if you're uncomfortable."

"Hmm, I'm around five eleven on a good day, you're probably five around five three. Don't worry about making me uncomfortable, you need a good night's sleep and there will be miles of space between us." Willy tossed his bag on the loveseat. Kori did the same. She dug in her bag for her pajamas and changed, because she still didn't care if Willy watched or not, he probably didn't. She dove onto the bed and got under the covers, wiggling around until the sheets weren't cold anymore. The bed was comfortable, and the sheets and pillows were soft as clouds. She fell asleep almost as soon as she stopped wiggling, and she didn't have any dreams.

The alarm clock went off. Kori woke up, but her mind was still so foggy that she deemed herself to be hopelessly tangled in her sheets and…Willy? She felt around above her head, and felt the nightstand instead of the headboard. She giggled. Apparently, they had both turned sideways over the course of the night, and their legs were on top of each other in the middle of the bed. Kori's foot was cold because it was out in the open, and Willy was still asleep because he was breathing slowly. She brought her cold foot under the covers and put it on the back of Willy's calf, where his pajama pants had been pushed up. He nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Ahh! Holy cow, your feet are ice cubes! But that's alright, because it woke me right up, haha!"They both got out of bed and dressed. Willy called room service and asked them to bring breakfast to their room, because he didn't feel like eating in the lobby around "the competition" he said in a pseudo-snobbish tone, which he ruined with a giggle.

Breakfast arrived, and they enjoyed in a sort of nervous silence. When they finished, they made their way over to the convention center. Willy led Kori as usual, but today he insisted that she use her cane, because she wasn't as used to this place as she was to the factory. The center was already crowded and bustling when they arrived.


	7. Chapter 7

Kori's outfit felt a little silly today, she liked it. She was wearing her usual skirt and oxford shirt (she rolled the sleeves up to her elbows), but instead of a jacket she was wearing an unbuttoned velvet vest, a bow tie, and a top hat. Willy told her that today the colors of her clothes matched the cherry and pear blossoms, pink and white. Kori asked what color his clothes were, and he said the usual red and black. Kori could hear a lot of voices, mostly elderly sounding women, telling Willy how cute they looked together. They were strolling towards their designated space, Willy guiding Kori and the truck driver following them, pulling a large cart with everything they needed on it. Willy and the driver set up the large things, and Kori put on tablecloths and arranged the flowers on it; she could tell them apart by the engraved designs on the pots. She arranged them with the tallest in back, and the shortest (the seed packets) in front. She also arranged a smaller table to the side with other candies Willy had been working on, including Everlasting Gobstoppers, the kind that were not made from the bogus recipe. Willy told Kori that he had set up a pretty little bench for her in one corner of the area, surrounded by the blossoming trees and a trellis that exhibited the climbing flowers perfectly. He said she'd look pretty sitting there whenever she needed a break.

They finished setting up early and had time so sit around and chat with the crowd that was gathering around them. The convention planned for each candymaker to give a presentation of all of their candies, scheduled for the time when the most people would be around the booth. Usually, Willy said, other candymakers would come watch too, just to snoop. It was time for the presentation to start, and Kori's job was to pick up each plant as Willy talked about it, she also smiled passed out packets of seeds to the people she could reach. When Kori thought the presentation was over, Willy took her hand and asked her to stand beside him. She did, but she didn't understand what was going on. She stood still as he addressed the crowd.

"Folks, do you see this jar of special sauce? It looks like chocolate, doesn't it? Well it's not. It's mud. Haha, I'm just kidding, but it's not for eating!" The crowd gasped, Willy had never made something inedible before! "It's got some cocoa in it, but it's got another use. It's not for your skin either, this special sauce would burn like crazy if you put in on your skin, not in a harmful way, of course, it would just be very uncomfortable." He moved closer to Kori as he finished his sentence. The next thing Kori knew, he threw a big glob of the sauce right on her face. He was right, it burned like crazy, and it was even worse because he had gotten a lot of it in her eyes. She shook her head, rubbed her eyes, and generally pitching a fit. The crowd had begun murmuring, occasionally a woman would shout something about cruelty to Willy.

"Jesus, Willy! Ahh, it burns! What's the big idea?" Kori groaned. Willy handed her a moist towel and she frantically rubbed her face, hands, and eyes. She scrubbed for a long time, trying to get rid of the leftover stinging after the yucky stuff was completely gone. Willy moved to kneel in front of her, with his hands resting on her shoulders.

"Kori, how do you feel?" Kori stopped rubbing and lowered the towel. She opened her eyes and began to tear up.

"Willy…" the tears began to freely stream down her face. "You're beautiful!" She flung her arms around his neck and buried her face in his neck, crying, and laughing, which made her sound like she was crying all the harder.

For once, Willy returned the embrace. Over Kori's shoulder, he addressed the crowd again. "This girl was completely blind five minutes ago, since the day she was born." The crowd gasped collectively, and what seemed like a million flash bulbs went off at once. Kori stepped back, her hands falling to Willy's chest, to look at his face, still speechless. He was smiling, and he had gotten a little watery-eyed too. "Your eyes look like someone mixed the grape and strawberry flavorings," he said. Kori put her hand on his cheek and wiped one of his tears with her thumb. He held her hands and stood up, their eyes never leaving each other until a reporter shouted to get their attention. Kori blinked when she finally noticed all the flashes. She also hadn't noticed that there were a dozen microphones in her face.

"Willy, how long have you been working on your special sauce?"

"Kori, how old are you, how was your life before you moved into the factory?"

"Do you think this will increase the output of new candies?"

"Will you ever sell your special sauce?"

"Will she ever go blind again?" Willy immediately shook his head.

"Why are her eyes magenta?"

Kori looked up at Willy pleadingly. He laughed. "Ok, you don't have to stay and talk to them, you can go look around." Kori hugged him again and started looking around their own display first. She really did match the cherry and pear trees. She examined the color of every leaf, branch, and petal, and the flavor packets.

"Willy!" He turned around. "Your eyes look like…the blueberry flavoring!" She held up the dark blue-violet packet. Willy laughed and Kori kept exploring, looking at how the twisting vines of the climbing flowers contrasted with the trellis. She looked at the space between their tables, which allowed access to the rest of the displays. She looked back at Willy, who had seen her looking, and he nodded, and then had a stern expression for a half second. She grinned. With his face, he had told her that she could explore, but that she should be careful. She laughed and scampered off towards the other displays, examining them as thoroughly as she could, ignoring the cameraman chasing her. The other candymakers didn't really seem like they appreciated "the competition" looking at their displays, but they had heard what happened, so they just sighed and made an exception for Kori.

One of the displays was decorated with large pinwheels. Kori was highly amused by how shiny they were as they were spinning. She spun one with her fingers and giggled, trying to feel the wind from it on her face. She heard a familiar voice behind her.

"It's not wise for a blind person to be wandering so far away from her dear benefactor." She spun around and glared with all her might, balling her fist. "My, what surprising eyes. How expressive." Slugworth leaned over her, trying to intimidate her.

"You're ugly. And you smell funny. Get away from me." Slugworth was taken aback, he quickly masked his surprise with a look of smugness.

"So you can see now, was this precious Willy's doing?" He leaned in again and said in her ear. "How is our friend doing? Did seeing me again reopen the scars I thought it would? Tell him I say hello, and that I'd like to _have_ him over again, he can even bring you if he wants." Slugworth's hand had come to rest on the small of her back. She pushed him away and glared with all the hatred she could muster.

"Get away from me, you're disgusting! You nasty, ugly old man! You're evil!" Slugworth stepped towards her again, but Kori stomped on his foot and punched him in the stomach. "By the way, no one liked your Gobstoppers, did they? That recipe he gave you was fake! Your stolen Gobstoppers will taste terrible and burn people's mouths! They will be awful, and you'll be a laughing stock! You'll be ruined, and you deserve it, because you're a bastard! All this time you think you've had one up on Willy and he's the one that's had one up on you!" Slugworth's face contorted with rage and he raised up his hand to strike her. Kori stuck out her tongue petulantly and ran off towards the safety of Willy.

Willy had just finished with the last of the reporters as Kori ran up and hid behind him like a shy child, with her hands on his back and peeking out from behind him. Willy opened his mouth to ask what she was doing, but he saw Slugworth stomping towards them furiously, eyes blazing. Willy looked down to make sure Kori was calm, and to hold out an arm protectively. When he looked up, Slugworth was within arms reach and slapped him, then grabbed his jacket and pulled him close, breathing poisonous breath into his face. "You little…you tricked me! I was laughed at because of you! No one makes a fool out of me!" He pushed Willy, hard. Kori held up her hands so he wouldn't lose his balance, then she was upon Slugworth like a viper.

"Well, guess what, there's a first time for everything! And if you ever put your hands on Willy again, you're gonna be in trouble!" Kori put one hand on her hip and wagged a finger at Slugworth, who only smirked.

"So I suppose _this_ would be out of the question." He closed in on Willy again and ran a hand down his torso, squeezing the front of his pants. He whispered in Willy's ear, "I hate you, you know that? I hate you for being so addictive. It makes me furious, I want to hurt you." It was Willy who pushed him away this time, a look of pure terror on his face. Kori pulled on the back of Slugworth's shirt until he was no longer within arm's reach of Willy. Then she started pounding on his back with her fists.

Slugworth turned around. "You can stop that, I've already gotten what I want, for now. Look at your beloved benefactor, he's beside himself with fear. My reign is not yet over. Go to him." With that, he casually walked away, with his hands in his pockets, as if he was strolling through a park. Kori went to Willy, who had sunk to the ground, eyes closed and shaking.

"Please, no, no, don't, Ah! Don't touch me!" Kori jerked her hand away, she had tried to touch his shoulder to reassure him that he was safe.

Kori's feelings were hurt. "Willy, it's just me. It's alright." Willy opened his eyes and looked at her, still shaking. Kori helped him up and said, "You can't let him keep doing this to you! I know he hurt you but you've got to get over your fear of him, or at least be able to look like you're not afraid! If you don't, you're just letting him completely rule you!" Willy only looked at the ground, as if he were thinking about what she said. The truck driver showed up to help them load everything back on the cart, they got done tearing down the display in record speed, and soon they were back in the truck, heading home. Kori and Willy did not talk during the whole trip. They didn't want to talk in front of the truck driver, who was singing along to some obscure country song.


	8. Chapter 8

As soon as they were safely inside the factory, Willy said, "Kori, you're right. I have to stop being afraid of other people, but I don't know how." They walked together to Willy's room and sat on the sofa in front of his fireplace. The heat from the flames made Kori want to blink, but their bright color and random dancing fascinated her. She wondered if fire was a gas or not. She had been in Willy's room before, but she had never seen it. She let her eyes wander around the room. His walls were the same color as his jacket, tastefully adorned with antique oil paintings. Willy's bed was on the opposite side of the room, it was a large, soft looking four-poster with dark bedding. On a wall near his bed were the doors to his bathroom and closet, with a huge, old, squishy chair between them. On the side of the room where the fireplace was, on either side of the fireplace were tall bookshelves reaching to the high sealing, and filled with books. A narrow ladder leaned against them, in the corner and out of the way. Across from the fireplace was the sofa where Willy and Kori sat, it was so comfortable that Kori was tempted to fall asleep on it.

Kori's eyes fell on Willy. He eyes were aimed at the fire, but he was looking within himself, a look of deep concentration on his face. Whatever he was thinking about, Kori didn't want to interrupt, so she just watched him. He had taken off his jacket and hung it in the closet when they walked in. He wore a black vest over a brightly patterned, high-collared shirt, his pants were black, and so were his heeled boots. His right foot rested on his knee, and he had his gloved hands folded in his lap. His hair was cut in a neat bob, which fell just below his chin, not showing any of his neck. _The only skin he ever shows is his face, _Kori thought, _How deeply did Slugworth really wound him?_ As she watched, an unfamiliar feeling built up in her chest; she wanted to cry, she wanted to hold him and cry in his hair and let her tears wash all his pain away, the way her mother never did; she wanted to be strong so he could live without fear. Her eyes began to water.

She left her thoughts to find that Willy had noticed her watching him; she wanted to fall into his eyes. She shook her head to clear it of anything mushy, she couldn't be strong for him if she had weak thoughts! She stood up. "I think I'll go to bed now, it's late. Good night, Willy. And thank you for everything." She turned and walked away.

When she got to the door, Willy called, "Hey, Kori? Will you sleep with me tonight?"

Kori's eyes widened. "What?!"

Willy realized what his words implied, and his eyes widened too. "Oh, gosh! I mean, will you just sleep in the same bed with me? I've been thinking about what you said, and I think the first step to take towards being comfortable around other people is to be completely comfortable around you. Plus, I'm kind of scared."

Kori turned to face him. "Why are you scared?"

Willy averted his eyes. "I…Slugworth said he wanted to hurt me. And I know nothing's going to happen to us when we're in the factory, but he might try to hurt you too. So, will you just stay with me in case he tries to do something tomorrow?" He twiddled his thumbs.

Kori could tell that he was probably just worried about what would happen in his dreams. She nodded and went to her room to put on her pajamas. She opened the door to go back into Willy's room and found him undressing. He had removed his shoes, gloves, and vest and now had his shirt halfway off his shoulders. Kori stared. He was muscular, but not beefy. had an elegant neck, throat, shoulders, and collarbone. His chest was hairless and looked strong, and on his stomach, Kori could see the faint outlines of a six-pack. Underneath his muscles, he had a slim, delicate frame. To take off his shirt he had left his pants zipped but unbuttoned; they rested low so that his hips were showing. His skin was pale, flawless, and radiant, as if he had the moon in his heart and the light from it shone through his skin. Kori thought, _I can understand why Slugworth and everyone else is so obsessed with him, he's beautiful. _She shook her head again. _No! Bad Kori! Don't think of him in that way, that's the kind of thinking that has him in the mess he's in now! Shame on you!_

Willy was frozen in a state of surprise, his shirt still halfway off his shoulders, staring at Kori staring at him. She caught herself staring and apologized, turning around so he could finish. After a minute Willy said, "It's ok to look now, I'm done." Kori turned around. His long sleeved pajamas were silk and the same color as his eyes. He had the shirt buttoned all the way up, hiding his skin again. Except when he slept, his hands and feet were showing too. His feet and hands were as slender and delicate as the rest of him; he didn't seem to have a single external flaw. Kori's pajamas were the same style as Willy's, except that they were the same color as her eyes. Magenta, someone had called it earlier. Willy turned off the lights and climbed onto the bed and Kori did the same, wiggling as usual to make the sheets warm and then lying on her back, with her hands behind her head. She wasn't going to fall asleep until she had thought about her day, that's how she made herself sleepy. She made sure to stay on her side, and not get too close to Willy. However, Willy had a different plan. He scooted closer to her and snuggled up to her side, putting an arm across her. She looked at him, surprised, but decided not to say anything. She turned over on her side so that her chin was on Willy's head, and her arms were around him; she fell asleep quickly.

"_I will hurt you…" Kori awoke with a start and got her bearings. She was on the floor in Willy's room, against a wall. Her wrists were tied behind her back, but her feet were free. She heard voices and looked up. Willy! Help! Wh…why won't you answer? Where is your shirt? Kori struggled to her feet. Who are you shouting at? There…Slugworth! No, Willy! He's got a gun! Get out of here, run! What is he saying? "I will hurt you…" He lifted the gun. I.Will.Hurt.You. Shots fired. Shock, her eyes were wide, her face pale. She fell to her knees. No…He smirks and lowers the gun, and Kori lowers her eyes. The dark stain on her shirt is growing, she feels no pain. Slugworth approaches Willy, who backs away with tears streaming down his face, shaking his head, mouthing something. No. She tries to go to him…she tries. She falls on her side, hands reaching for Willy and fingertips twitching. He is pinned against the wall, facing it, arms restrained behind his back. A single tear falls. Hips thrusting, a scream, blackness. Just like before._

Kori awoke with a start and got her bearings. She was on a bed, her head on Willy's chest. She was alive, and he was safe. It was probably around six in the morning. The sunrise streamed in the windows around the top of the wall. She sat up slowly so he could keep sleeping, and looked down at him. One hand was on his stomach, and the other was on his pillow, beside his face. His head was turned towards his hand. His hair was splayed around his head like a halo; Kori resisted the urge to touch it. His eyes were closed peacefully, not squinting. His long eyelashes rested on his pale, well-defined cheekbones. His full, dark lips were just slightly parted and he was breathing so quietly that Kori could barely hear him. Kori smiled. She wished his life would always be this peaceful. It was Sunday, so Kori decided to go back to sleep. She laid back down, but kept her head on her pillow so she wouldn't disturb Willy. She watched him as she drifted back to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Yeah, I know I'm cranking out chapters pretty fast, but it's my way of procrastinating (I should be doing schoolwork haha). Oh yeah, and this chapter is gonna be a long one. R&R please!!!

It was New Year's Eve. Kori was lying on the grass under the cherry trees, watching the soft pink blossoms fall around her. She and Willy were hosting a party at a ritzy hotel later this evening and had invited many business connections and clients of Willy's, or should she say theirs, Willy had made sure to quickly get her out of the habit of referring to the factory as solely Willy's. It was theirs. There were even going to be celebrities there. Willy had invited a fashion designer friend, and when her celebrity friends heard they invited themselves. Kori reached up and caught a falling blossom, examining its subtle shimmer. This garden was truly paradise. Everything was bright, hopeful, perfect. Even when the world outside of it was grey and sad. She laughed. She had fallen in the chocolate river once, over the summer. Willy had reached for her with his cane to help her out, and she had pulled him in instead. He had thrashed about wildly, shouting something about not being able to stay afloat with shoes on, only to realize that the river was only four feet deep, he could stand up. He blushed furiously when he realized that, and they climbed out of the river together, laughing like maniacs. It took Kori an hour to get all of the chocolate out of her long, black hair.

Brown. Willy taught her that color. He taught her every color. Whenever she saw one she didn't recognize, she would point it out and he would tell her. Her favorite color was violet, the color of Willy's eyes. She closed her magenta ones and reflected. She had come to the factory in February, almost a year ago, by a miraculous stroke of luck. Almost immediately, her luck had changed as she discovered that Slugworth had been terrorizing poor Willy for years, beginning by raping and torturing him. She fumed inside. They saw Slugworth at every candy related event they went to, and he never failed to harass them in some way. Whether it be through verbal insults, physical violence, or molesting Willy. At the most recent events, he had become lazy and merely smirked at them, or maybe he was trying to make them paranoid or ruin their progress in getting Willy used to being touched, who knew. It worked though. Every time, Willy would stop being his usual cheerful self and shrink into himself like a scared child. However, it took less time to get him out of his shell again, eventually he wouldn't get scared at all. Every time, he would ask her to spend the night with him. Part of their progress was that Willy no longer minded if Kori saw him without a shirt (although she could only touch him if he was fully clothed), much to her delight. Once, she had even come into his room while he was taking a bath. He had come out wearing nothing but a fluffy white towel held dangerously low around his slim hips, his pale skin still shining with moisture. Kori apologized and left the room, with a nosebleed.

Kori didn't know how to describe her feelings for Willy. Every time she saw or thought about him, her heart felt so warm that she was afraid it would melt. She refused to believe he was anything but perfect, his flaws only serving to make him even more perfect. She wanted to make him happy, she never wanted to leave his side. When they spent the night together, she held onto him so tight that he laughed and said she was trying to turn them into one person. He was right. If they were the same person, they would never have to be apart. Her world lit up when he smiled at her, a frequent occurrence. Her life with him was too good to be true. This is what she told her friends Liz and Phoebe.

"Ohh, how sweet! Kori, I think you're in love with him!" Liz squealed cheerfully.

Kori was puzzled. "Love? I thought that's what people do when they want to get married and have babies."

Caroline laughed in her deep, seductive voice. "Do you want to have his babies?"

Kori's face turned as red as her jacket. "No! I could never have babies! I--"

Caroline interrupted. "But would you…you know?" Caroline made an obscene motion with her hands. When Kori realized what it meant, her eyes widened and her face turned even redder, if that was possible. Her friends laughed, and Liz squealed and elbowed her in the ribs. Willy was her best friend, but these two were great. Caroline was tall, thin, brown-eyed and pale. Not the same kind of pale as Willy, Caroline had Italian ancestors. She had straight, black hair that was below her chin in the front and tapered so that it was just above her earlobes in the back. She always wore dark purple lipstick, which was actually quite flattering. She also wore black eyeliner that made her look like a cat. She wore a sundress every day, each one had some dark purple in it so it wouldn't clash with her lipstick. She was studious and enjoyed writing poetry. Liz was only a couple of inches taller than Kori, she had an athletic build. She had golden skin and freckles. Her curly, dirty blonde hair was always pulled into pigtails with ribbons that matched her shirt. Large, round, wire-framed glasses rested on her small upturned nose, distracting from her pale blue eyes, and her mouth was always smiling. She wore whatever she felt like wearing. That particular day she had on darkwash skinny jeans tucked into extra high converse, she wore a ruffled pink blouse and loose black suspenders, and multiple black jelly bracelets. She played water polo and liked drawing pictures. Much to Kori's chagrin, many of her drawings were of Kori and Willy in some state of undress and in a…romantic…pose. Others were of other pretty boys, or landscapes. Kori herself was short and slim, with pale porcelain skin. Her dark brown hair fell to the middle of her back, it was as fine and soft as a baby's, making it naturally straight. She always wore a pleated black skirt, her oxford shirt was white, and her blazer was red, like Willy's. She wore white knee socks and black mary-janes. Robert and Victor didn't sit with them anymore, they had lunch at a different time.

They were good friends. Kori actually had classes with them now. The Monday after Willy had cured her, she had gone into the school office and requested to be put into a normal class. The principal had been thoroughly surprised, but then had kept blabbering about how Kori and Willy were all over the newspapers, hugging and crying, and there were always color close-ups of Kori's surprising eyes. The principal's hair was always in a tight bun, and she wore boring brown skirt suits and thick framed glasses. She also wore too much perfume. She talked to Kori excitedly about what a miracle worker Willy was, and that he was a genius and incredibly kind for donating the recipe for his special sauce to medicine. As if Kori needed to be told, she already knew all that and more. Kori couldn't help feeling a little smug when she walked into her first class and Justine, sitting in the front row, said "What's _she_ doing in here? This class involves taking notes from the board and reading books in _print_, not Braille." Kori only smirked and looked directly into Justine's eyes. Justine looked surprised at seeing that Kori's eyes were no longer covered up. "Hmmph, well she's still a freak." Justine crossed her arms. She wasn't fat, but she was definitely bigger around than Kori, she wore a short denim skirt, a super tight, low cut green sweater under a hooded white North Face vest, along with Ugg boots. She had a spray-on tan and her brown hair had blonde highlights and was pulled into a ponytail. She wore large hoop earrings, lots of mascara and lip gloss, and large sunglasses rested on top of her head. Kori only laughed and took a seat right behind her. Justine had passed a note to her. Written in neat pink ink, it said "WHY DON'T YOU GO MASTURBATE WITH A LOLLYPOP, PRINCESS LOLLY!" Kori wrote her back, "GOT AN EXTRA LONG ONE I CAN BORROW?" Justine looked at her, disgusted. Kori, Caroline, and Liz had a great laugh over it at lunchtime.

Willy laughed too. He winked and said, "Ha, you should have called her out and said you know she does that when she thinks about me, but you've got the real deal. Plus you've got plenty of other boys willing to do your bidding too." It was true, too. Once they no longer had to look at her scaled-over eyes, plenty of handsome boys had been asking her out left and right. She always thanked them for the compliment but turned them down. "She's probably just jealous that she's not naturally beautiful." Or that Kori got to share a bed with the heartthrob King of Candy, she wouldn't tell Willy that every girl between the ages of 12 and 80 had a crush on him, they did a good enough job of that on their own.

Willy had also found a way to put Caroline and Liz to use. A fashion designer, Betsey Johnson, had written Willy a letter about how much she loved his wild and crazy candies, and that she thought he was a snappy dresser. She told him he should come out with a clothing line, and she would manufacture it. So he did. He and Kori would draw outfits and Willy even let Liz send him designs, and Caroline got to choose her favorite pieces and model them around school. Her favorite outfit was black leggings under a black and white polka dot tutu, with a bubblegum pink t-shirt that in light pink said "STOP YOUR GOB." The finishing touches were light pink legwarmers and matching headband. Kori rather liked the t-shirt, but she liked wearing her "uniform" because Willy never allowed it to come into production, so when everyone was wearing "W" (that was the line's name), she still looked unique. That was such a fun project. Sometimes they would take turns drawing the silliest outfits they could think of on people they didn't like. Kori drew a picture of Slugworth in a shirt that said "I BLOW GUMBALLS" and gave it to Willy. He hung it on the fridge and they laughed at it for a while. Kori loved his laugh. Maybe Liz was right. She closed her eyes and smiled, the image of Willy in his towel floated before her eyes. Maybe she did love him. She let go of the blossom she was holding, content until her reverie was interrupted.

"Psst, Kori! Are you sleeping?" Kori opened her eyes. Willy had sat on the grass beside her. "Whacha smiling at? You got a crush on one of those boys from school? Huh, huh?" He poked her.

Kori closed her eyes and laughed, if only he knew. "Not quite. I was just thinking of all the good times we've had."

She heard Willy lay down beside her. "Yeah, we've had a blast! Haha, do you remember that time I tried the hair toffee?"

Kori remembered, she laughed so hard that she rolled over and clutched her side. "Ha! You grew a beard and a moustache and looked like a total beatnik! We sat in the grass and made flower crowns and pretended to smoke the grass!"

"D-d-duuuude I am sooo blaaaazed! Do you remember saying that?"

"Haha, yeah. And then you said. 'Yeeaah man, mee too! I'm as blazed as a…bird that...flies! And lights –'" She stopped abrubtly. Willy had rolled over so that he could look at her face. They weren't touching, but he had reached across her and rested his hand beside her shoulder. Kori's face turned hot. For a split second, she couldn't read his face, but almost immediately it went back to its usual toothy smile. "Hey, get up. We've got to start getting ready." He stood and helped Kori get up. He turned around and with his usual springy, swaying, swagger headed off towards his room. Kori lagged behind to make her face cool down, and then followed. Her back was tense and her mind was in a fog, what had Willy been thinking?

She went into her room and started changing clothes. Willy had doodled her dress when they were joking that they should wear matching outfits, and she actually liked it so the Oompa Loompas made it for her. It was pretty. It was strapless and form fitting down to the hips, and the skirt was tiered and moved a lot when she walked or danced. Around her hips, where the dress loosened up, was a silver belt. The dress was made of deep blue lace, and looked nice against Kori's pale skin. She wore strappy silver heels and a silver choker, and she pulled her hair back into loose bun, held with a silver comb. A few strands of hair were free to hang beside her face. She quickly brushed her teeth and went to the candy garden, where Willy was waiting beside the glass elevator. His pants and jacket were white, and his vest was the same shade as Kori's dress. He smiled at her when she walked to him and bowed. When he straightened back up they both giggled and stepped into the elevator. It took off and soon they were flying through the night. It was a little cloudy, so they could not see the stars but the moon was out and bright white, the clouds making its light look like an aura. Kori looked at the moon for a while and then looked at Willy, who was looking at her. Kori thought nothing of it.

Willy smiled, "Boy, it sure doesn't seem like it's been almost a year, does it? You know, your birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks. We should do something special."

Kori thought for a second. "Like what? Everything we do is special. I live every day like most kids don't even on their birthdays."

Willy laughed, "Haha, good point. I guess I'll just surprise you." He gave a mischievous grin."

"Uh oh, I'm not sure I trust that look" Kori said in mock fear. She laughed as Willy's expression became angelic and used his hands to make a halo above his head. Kori put her hands on her hips and tried to look stern, but they both started laughing. They were still laughing when the elevator landed and they walked into the ballroom they had rented. The party started in two hours, and most of the decorations were already up. The ceiling and walls were draped with light, sheer fabrics in white and shades of blue, some were shimmery. The dance floor in the center of the room was large, and above it there was a disco ball and blue and white lights shining at it, sending blue and white reflections all over the room. The DJ's table was a back corner, and along the back wall was a very long buffet table covered in a white cloth. In its center was, of course, a large chocolate fountain surrounded by an assortment of chocolates. To the left and right of the chocolate fountain were two ice swans, surrounded by assorted fruits. There were also various cakes, cookies, cheeses, and anything else that would taste nice dipped in chocolate. At either end of the table was lighted punch fountain surrounded by many glasses of champagne. The parts that did not have food on them were sprinkled with silver star shaped glitter and white and red rose petals. There were several round tables along the side walls, also covered with glitter and petals. In the center of each table were three silver, blue, and deep red candles around a vase of red roses, all sitting on a round mirror. On the front wall on one side of the door was an open bar (added at the request of some of the attendees). On the other side was a small stage. Kori nodded at Willy, "Wow, impressive." Willy looked down at her and winked.

"Haha, looks like we know what we're doing doesn't it?"

Kori laughed, "Yes, we'll have everyone fooled won't we?" They both laughed and separated. Willy stood on a ladder and helped hang round mirrors high on the walls to help reflect the light. Kori helped the bartender finish arranging the table centers and light candles. When they finished the bartender, who was actually a lesbian, handed Kori a glass of Vanilla Smirnoff with ice. She laughed at Kori's confused expression.

"Take that to Willy, he looks like he's working hard over there." She winked and Kori rolled her eyes, but thanked her and took the glass to Willy, who had just finished putting chairs at all the tables.

He sniffed it. "What is it?" He tasted a little bit and shrugged. "Not bad." He sipped a little more and waved at the bartender, giving her a thumbs up.

"It's Vanilla Smirnoff. Are you sure it isn't too early for that?" Kori raised an eyebrow. If Willy got drunk and embarrassed himself, she was going to kill him.

"Nah, this is all I'm having. Everyone dances better after they've had a little something to drink. Here, have the rest." He handed Kori his half-finished glass.

She tasted a little bit and shrugged. "Not bad." The glass was small, so it only took a few sips to finish it. She handed it back to Willy and they walked over to give it back to the bartender just as the guests began to arrive and the lights went down. Kori and Willy stood by the door and greeted guests as they came in. If anyone famous came in, Kori and Willy didn't know because they weren't very into pop culture. Once they decided there were enough people on the dance floor, they decided to join in the fun. They weren't the best dancers, but they weren't the worst either, and they were having a lot of fun. After an hour of dancing, as they finished doing the "Cupid Shuffle," a tall drag queen looking lady who called herself Paris and an equally tall but much prettier lady named Kiera came and danced with Willy, and a handsome man named Orlando danced with Kori. Orlando was a terrible dancer, but he was nice so she kept dancing with him for a few songs. Kori glanced over to see how Willy was doing. Paris had a drink in her hand and kept trying to get close to Willy, who kept dancing while slowly backing away and trying not to look uncomfortable. Feeling a slight twist of possessiveness, Kori decided to go to his rescue before something bad happened. She made her way through the dancing, half-drunk crowd and tapped Paris's elbow. When the taller girl turned around Kori said, "My turn." Paris walked away. Willy stepped closer to Kori and thanked her.

Someone must have given Willy a couple more drinks, because his dancing had definitely improved although it was a little more…provocative. They danced together until the DJ stopped the music and walked to the stage. He said, "Ok, folks. This year's almost over! I've always heard that it's good luck to kiss someone as the clock strikes midnight, so ladies go get your men back from each other and whip out that chapstick!" The crowd bustled for a few minutes, everyone was getting champagne glasses and finding their significant others, if they had any. Somehow Kori and Willy got bustled to the back of the room, but they didn't mind. The DJ spoke up again, "Everyone got their new year's resolutions ready? Ok, let's all count down together! Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two…"

Without any warning at all, Willy lifted Kori's chin and gently pressed his lips against Kori's. At first her eyes were wide with shock but she soon closed them and began to respond to the kiss. His lips were warm and soft; they shot warmth throughout her entire body and made her feel lightheaded. She couldn't help moaning softly and moving closer to him, he wrapped his free arm around her waist as he moved his lips against hers. The crowd began to sing and they separated, she was left wanting more and he was grinning as if nothing had happened. "Now we're sure to have good luck this year! Haha!" He ruffled Kori's hair and strode off to bid farewell to the guests who were leaving to go to other parties. Kori only stared after him, her mind racing but not knowing what to think.

A/N: I'm bored (frowny face) I think maybe only a couple more chapters after this. After cranking out so many chapters in a short time, it feels like it took forever to write this, and I don't know if I like this chapter or not. R&R anyway, please. I appreciate reviews.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Hmm…tension.

Kori's birthday was supposed to be special. Well, it was in a way. Willy had told Kori to meet him under the cherry blossoms when she got back from school. He had set up a beautiful little table for a tea party. It was simple and perfect. He had even asked a few Oompa Loompas to come serenade them while they drank tea and pretended to be the prince and princess of Candy Land, trying to use royal-sounding accents with a straight face. Kori would occasionally just observe Willy as he sipped his tea, a thoughtful frown forming on her face without her noticing.

Willy nailed the accent this time, "Why, your highness, what ever is the matter?"

Kori smiled and turned up her nose and put her hand on her chest, "Dear prince, what makes you think anything would be the matter?" Willy reached across the table and interlocked their fingers, Kori could only stare at their joined hands and say, "You know, I don't think I've ever actually touched your hand before. I mean without your gloves. I know you sleep without them but I've never touched your hand." Kori stroked the back of the squeaky purple glove with her thumb.

"Is that all that's bothering you? Well gosh, that's nothing at all!" He removed his gloves and put them in his jacket pocket. He held her hand again, this time stroking her fingers. "Your hands are soft. Is that all that's been bothering you the past couple of weeks? You've been frowning and thinking a lot. Not that you don't already think a lot, I'm just worried that something is bothering you, you know. Is something wrong?" He looked her directly in the eyes, he looked concerned.

Kori stammered, "No! Nothing's wrong, everything is perfect it's just that I can't…we…I…You kissed me." She averted her eyes and fidgeted her free hand in her lap. She didn't want to tell him how he had made her feel, she wanted to pin him to a wall and kiss him until their lips fell off. She knew if she did that he would probably be afraid, but it was hard to keep it inside. His kiss had made everything she had ever felt about him explode into a million sparks that shot all throughout her body like a drug through her bloodstream. And like with drugs, one taste of him had her addicted.

Willy moved his chair next to Kori's and tilted her chin up to look into her eyes again. He had the same unreadable expression as before the new year's party. "It was for good luck." He opened his mouth to say something else, but closed it again. Their mouths were close; Kori looked at his soft, full lips and wanted to kiss him again. She moved in a little more and began to close her eyes when and Oompa Loompa abruptly cleared his throat. Kori jumped and Willy turned and grinned at his small worker.

"There's someone at the gate, boss. They want to come in right away," said the tiny messenger. He waited for a reply with his hands behind his back.

Willy looked towards Kori again and replied, "Tell them I'm busy right now. It's my heir's birthday, they can come again."

The Oompa Loompa cleared his throat again. "I did, boss. That's why they're here. They said they won't leave until they see Miss Kori and they would like to see her right away."

Willy and Kori only looked at each other and shrugged. They could send these people away and then, Kori hoped, start back where they left off. Willy told the Oompa Loompa to invite them into the kitchen. Willy and Kori were already there starting a pot of coffee when the guests arrived, clearly at a loss of what to think about their tiny escort and the gigantic factory. They were a man and a woman, probably in their mid-forties but clearly trying to look younger. The man was tall, tan, and buff. His wavy dark hair was combed back out of his handsome face. He wore a well-tailored suit, shiny leather shoes, and a Rolex. His large white teeth rivaled were straight and blinded the hell out of everyone when the man attempted to smile and shake hands with Willy, who giggled nervously and bravely extended his hand to be subjected to the man's vice grip. The woman was clearly a trophy wife. She was thin, and with her teased up bleach blonde hair and high heels, she was nearly as tall as her husband. She wore a flattering skirt suit, huge gaudy jewelry, and a huge fake smile. At first glance, Kori assumed they were extremely rich, stylish entrepreneurs with an interest in buying the factory. Overall, they made Kori nervous, but Willy was gracious in greeting them and offering them coffee, which they declined while glancing around the room in barely concealed distaste.

The woman rushed to Kori and smothered her in a tight hug. "Oh, my poor dear!" She knelt and took Kori's face in her hands. "You look so unhealthy, when was the last time you saw sunshine? And, goodness! When was the last time you spent time with" she gave Willy a once-over, "…normal people? I can tell by your eyes that you're starting to go crazy, being locked up in here like Cinderella. And you're so thin, he must work you to the bone!" She attempted another hug but Kori backed away and stood in front of Willy, who put his hands on her shoulders.

The man spoke up, "You run a funny business Mr. Wonka. I hear you're a complete nutter." He put his hands in his pockets and paced around the room, occasionally swiping his finger on a surface to check for dust.

His inspections bothered Kori. She glared at the man and said, "You can stop that. This is the cleanest place you'll ever have the privilege of seeing. As a matter of fact, you asked to see me, and you have seen me. You invited yourselves into Willy's and my home and insulted us, so you can leave now." She crossed her arms.

They had the audacity to laugh! Kori's jaw clenched, and she could tell that Willy was offended as well because his grip on her shoulder tightened a little. The man reached his hand out to Kori and spoke with laughter still in his voice, "What atrocious manners! We're taking you with us. Come on."

Kori looked at his hand as if it was full of something nasty. Willy let go of her shoulders and moved to stand in front of her. She looked up to see the angriest expression she had ever seen on Willy's face. His eyes were narrowed and Kori thought that the man's lungs should have filled with poison or something, with all the venom in Willy's glare. Kori tried her best to imitate his expression from behind his back. "Who are you?" She asked.

The woman replied in a condescending tone, "Your parents."

It was Kori's turn to laugh, but even while laughing she did not sound amused. "I have no parents."

Willy's fist clenched into a ball. "Leave, or I'll have you arrested," he spat. Kori looked up in him, surprised at his assertiveness.

The man who claimed to be Kori's father narrowed his eyes and stepped close to Willy, trying to intimidate the slightly smaller candyman. "I thought it might come to this, and we arranged to sue you for custody. We'll see you in court." He took a piece of paper from his pocket and shoved it at Willy's chest, pushing him back a few steps. Kori tried to run at the man and hit him, but Willy held her back as the couple walked out of the room, escorted by an Oompa Loompa.

Kori waited until they were gone and sank to the floor, hugging her knees and resting her head on them. She didn't start crying until Willy knelt beside her and wrapped his arms around her, resting his cheek on the back of her head and stroking her back. They didn't talk; there wasn't really anything either of them could say. Kori slept in Willy's bed that night, she cried herself to sleep against his chest.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: R&R please & thanks!

There were photographers everywhere. Kori could see them out the window of the limousine as it pulled up in front of the courthouse. She looked up at Willy, tears forming in her eyes. She felt as if she were having an out of body experience, or at least hoped that she was dreaming. Willy looked back, dry-eyed but unhappy to say the least. His hands rested atop his cane, thumbs fidgeting nervously.

"Willy? Will I have to leave?" Kori asked.

Willy tilted her chin up with his thumb and faked a smile. "I don't know yet, but keep your chin up and be strong, for me." Kori nodded as the limousine driver opened her door. She climbed out with Willy behind her. They were greeted by a hundred microphones and flashes going off right in their faces. Reporters were asking questions, but there were so many at once that Kori wouldn't have been able to understand them even if she tried. Willy got in front of her and shoved through the crowd so the path would be clear for Kori to follow. From behind, Kori could tell that his jaw was clenched and his shoulders were tense. She wanted to rub them for him. Once they got past the mob of media and into the courtroom, they sat at their table. The bailiff made them swear on the bible. Willy removed his hat and put his face in his hands, and Kori moved close to him and rubbed his back and rested her cheek on his shoulder. She tried not to think about what would happen if she had to leave him. He took a deep breath and sat up, giving Kori a wink and a smile that did not reach his eyes.

A few people started to trickle into the courtroom, sitting in the benches behind whichever side they were rooting for. Kori didn't pay attention to anything until a man in a suit stuck his hand in her face. Instead of shaking it, Kori just stared at the hand and then at the man's face. He introduced himself, "You must be Korban! Well, how do you do? I'm Randall J. Montgomery, attorney, and I'll be representing your parents today." Kori only glared. The man was tall and bulky, with a large grey moustache, slick grayish black hair, and bifocal glasses. He could break Willy in half if he wanted. He turned to Willy, who only stared back with his head tilted. Randall J. Montgomery, attorney, sneered and straightened his jacket before returning to the other side of the room, where Mr. and Mrs. Gibson sat. The attorney and the couple exchanged a few unheard words before glancing towards Kori and Willy.

The bailiff stepped to the front of the courtroom. His voice boomed, "All rise! The case of Gibson versus Wonka is now in session, the honorable Joel Matthews presiding." A white-haired old judge sat on his bench. He nodded, and everyone sat down. The bailiff turned towards the judge and said, "All parties have been sworn in, your honor." The judge nodded at the bailiff, and then again at Randall J. Montgomery.

The attorney spoke. "First, I would like to call Mrs. Sharon Gibson to the stand." The woman walked over and sat gingerly in the witness's chair. The judge looked at her over his glasses while Randall J. Montgomery addressed her. "Tell me, Mrs. Gibson, what is the full name of your daughter?"

Mrs. Gibson held her chin up and crossed her legs. "Korban Emilia Gibson."

"And she was born blind, yes?"

"She was."

"And you and your husband went to great lengths, taking Korban to hospitals for various methods of treatment?

"That is correct."

"Would you say that you did this out of love and concern for Korban's wellbeing?"

"Of course."

"Lies!" Kori stood up and shouted. "You only cared about what your 'friends' thought, and how unstylish it was to have a daughter with scaly eyes!" The audience broke into a murmur and the judge slammed down his mallet a few times, calling for order. He glared at Kori, who glared back as she sat down. Willy put his arm around Kori's shoulder to calm her down, and Randall J. Montgomery straightened his coat again.

"Anyway, Mrs. Gibson, you say that Korban only lived with you for eleven years, you say. Where did she live for the five years before she moved in with Mr. Wonka?"

Mrs. Gibson looked right into the lawyer's eyes and lied, "She was at a special boarding academy for the blind."

Kori stood up and shouted again, "I was not! I lived in an alley downtown!" Willy grabbed her arm and pulled her onto the bench.

Randall J. Montgomery looked highly offended. "Mrs. Gibson, I do believe you've answered my questions satisfactorily, that will be all." He turned to the judge and nodded. "I would like to call Korban Gibson to the stand, since she seems to have much to say." As Kori stood, Willy held her hand and gently squeezed it to wish her good luck. Kori smiled. As she turned away from Willy, she made eye contact with Mrs. Gibson, who shot a possessive glare at Willy. Kori walked between them to take Mrs. Gibson's eye contact from Willy to herself, matching the woman's possessive glare with one of her own. Kori slowly walked to the stand and sat down, glaring at the attorney as well.

"Ahem, Miss Gibson, you claim that you parents 'abandoned' you. What makes you think that?" He used his fingers to air-quote the 'abandoned' part.

Kori straightened up. "I don't _think_ they abandoned me. They _did_! They decided it would be fun for me to go camping in the back yard, and when I went inside the next day after they hadn't bothered to check on me at all, I felt around and noticed that all the furniture and their things were gone. My things were still in the house." She held her hands in front of her to imitate how she had tried to find the furniture several years ago.

"Now, you don't honestly believe that loving parents would just move away and leave a child in the house. They could have just gone to get new furniture. They probably just wanted you to have a camping experience before you went to boarding school and would no longer have that opportunity. Isn't that right?" He turned towards Mr. and Mrs. Gibson, who nodded furiously. He turned to the judge and laughed while gesturing towards Kori, "Ha! Kids these days have such crazy imaginations don't they? This one especially, what with living with Crazy over there, who knows what kind of baloney he's told her to say." Both the attorney and the judge laughed this time, their heads thrown back in merriment.

Tears came to Kori's eyes when the lawyer insulted Willy. She slammed her fists on the stand in front of her and shouted, "I'm not making anything up! Don't you dare talk about him like that, you don't know anything! They did abandon me! I lived on the streets for five years and they didn't even come looking for me! They didn't care at all! They treated me like an ugly fashion accessory! All they were worried about was that their stuck-up, rich friends would look down on them for having a disabled child! They only tried so many treatments because of the praise it brought them for being 'such good parents.' They never let me go out of my room except to go 'camping!' They probably only want me back so they can have their fifteen minutes of fame!" She was nearly in hysterics now. She put her elbows on her knees and her head on her hands.

The lawyer looked down his nose at her and ran his fingers through his slick hair. "Since the current witness is apparently unable to continue with questioning, I call Mr. Willy Wonka to the stand. A few seconds later, Willy was sitting next to Kori on the bench. His arm was around her shoulders protectively, and she was leaning on his shoulder. Her face was streaked with dried tears and she was staring vacantly at nothing in particular, as people exhausted from crying often do.

Randall J. Montgomery, attorney at law, gave Willy a smug, contemptuous grin. "Mister Wonka, why did you choose Miss Gibson over the rest of the golden ticket winners?"

Willy replied matter-of-factly, "I need a heir that I can trust and who will find joy in continuing my life's work. Four of the other children were rotten eggs, the fifth had no interest in becoming my heir." He pronounced the "heir" part as "hair."

"Why didn't you just find a wife and make an heir? Unless that is what you intend to do with Miss Gibson." He crossed his arms in front of his barrel chest.

Willy blushed, "N…no way! I could never do…that!."

"Then explain the nature of your relationship." The lawyer raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"I'm teaching her everything I know about the candy business. Sure we live together, but we have separate living quarters. And Kori's my best friend." Willy explained.

"Do you not find your friendship inappropriate, considering your age differences?"

Without moving her head from Willy's shoulder, Kori spoke up. "We're a lot closer in age mentally. Willy's more innocent than a lot of people, and his imagination did not die down as he grew. That combined with the fantastical surroundings of the factory and the childlike nature of candy itself makes him seem very young. I may sometimes seem older than I am, which is no doubt a result of living on the streets and having to fend for myself. One could say we meet halfway."

"So if Mr. Wonka is so young mentally, how cam he care for a child?" The lawyer asked.

Willy snipped back, "That doesn't mean I'm incompetent. Besides, we take care of each other. That's what friends do." He sat up straighter and tilted his chin up. "Besides, Kori's not a child."

Randall J. Montgomery, attorney at law, pushed his glasses up his nose and put his hands on his hips. "What on earth would a grown man need a seventeen year old child to 'take care of' for him?" His words dripped with innuendo.

Kori stood up and shouted and the fat man, "I don't like what you're implying!" Her fists clenched and shook. Meanwhile, Willy had to take a few moments to figure out what the lawyer was implying. His face turned red.

"Yes, Mr. Wonka. The court would like to know why you need this little girl's care." A voice called out from the back of the crowd. Its owner, a tall, thin, ugly man with a disgustingly smug sneer on his face, stood up.

Kori's eyebrows furrowed and she put her hands on her hips, glaring at the man. "Hey! I'm not a little…wait a minute! Slugworth!"

The entire room turned their heads to look at Slugworth, the air quickly filled with curious chatter. The judge had to pound his mallet a few times before there was silence again. "Order! Mister…Slugworth, is it? Do you have something you would like to bring before the court?"

Slugworth slowly strode towards the front of the courtroom. All eyes were on him, especially Willy's and Kori's, whose glares could have set the man on fire. He slinked up to the witness' stand. He ran his thumb across Willy's jaw and winked, and he patted Kori on the head, which elicited an angry growl from her. He turned to the judge. "You honor, I can give you the reason for Mr. Wonka's apparent mental instability, his phobia of human contact, and why the girl is compelled to care for him. You see, a few years ago, Mr. Wonka was beaten, tortured, and raped at the hands of one of his workers, who wished to obtain secret recipes from him. The event so traumatized him that he closed his factory and withdrew into himself, fearing and not trusting every human on the planet. He is an attractive man, so it is inevitable that people will try to grab him every once in a while if he goes out in public. However, every time this happened he would withdraw into himself again. The girl, out of compassion for her beloved benefactor, did everything within her ability to comfort him. Their trust grew and now she is the only person he does not flinch at coming into contact with, although he no longer completely shuts down from being touched. You saw this when I touched his face just a moment ago." As Slugworth finished, he smirked and winked at Willy and Kori, who sat in silence. "Unfortunately, I cannot give you information as to who did this to him. It has been too many years to make a case of it anyway." He turned and began to walk out of the courtroom.

The entire crowd sat in awe, Willy hung his head in humiliation and Kori felt such a strong mixture of hurt and anger that she almost cried again. The judge turned to them and asked, "Is this true?" They could only nod as the crowd gasped. "Well, whether or not the relationship between these two is sexual, there is still something about it that just seems inappropriate. I hereby grant custody of Korban Gibson to Sharon and Todd Gibson. Furthermore, I will place a restraining order on Willy Wonka. He may not come within one hundred feet of Korban, her house, or her school, and she may not go within the gates of the factory. Telephone conversations are also not allowed. This ruling is effective from midnight until Korban's eighteenth birthday, which is when she will be legally recognized as an adult. Court is adjourned." He slammed his mallet and left the room.

The room exploded in talk, but Kori couldn't hear any of it. Her insides twisted painfully and she thought she would be sick. She felt Willy behind her and turned to embrace him. His entire body was tense, and he held her so tight that she couldn't breathe. Realization didn't hit her until she heard a strained whimper escape Willy's throat. She wasn't allowed to see him for almost a year. She wouldn't be able to hear his voice. She wouldn't be able to hold him or sleep in his bed or make him feel better when he was sad. It hit her like a train, and she went limp against his chest, sobbing uncontrollably. She turned to leave the courtroom, holding Willy's hand and dragging him behind her. She refused to look at her parents. She was angry and sad. She wanted to punish Slugworth for humiliating Willy, and she wanted to make him feel better, but she couldn't. She pushed through the crowd. When they exited the courthouse, the same reporters were there with the constant questions and flashing cameras. Kori didn't notice it, she felt as if she were having an out of body experience, or that she was having a nightmare and would soon wake up on Willy's bed. They had to stand on the sidewalk for a minute waiting for the limousine to pull up. They refused to answer any questions, but didn't make a great effort to hide their faces from the camera either.

The limo finally pulled up and Kori climbed in with Willy behind her. As soon as the door shut, she threw herself onto him and continued crying. "I'm sorry everyone found out what he did to you. And I'm sorry I kept shouting out. It's my fault we lost."

Willy held her close and stroked her head. "Hush, it's not your fault at all. We lost before we even walked into the courtroom. I could tell by the lawyer's questions, and that the judge was not concerned with being fair." He was not crying, but his voice sounded weak. His eyes didn't have their usual sparkle and his face didn't have a hint of happiness in it. Kori's mind shut down; all she could do during the car ride back was sit and stare into space. She remembered what Willy had said earlier, _keep your chin up and be strong, for me._ She had to be strong, look at the bright side. She would see him again. Sure, she would be sad without him, but looking forward to being together again would make the time pass faster. These thoughts cheered her up a little bit, but did nothing for the pain. They arrived at the factory. Willy spoke, "I guess we have to pack your things." He avoided making eye contact with Kori, staring sadly at the floor instead. Even while they were putting Kori's clothes and things into a bag, they still didn't talk. Kori didn't know if she was even capable of speaking, her throat was so constricted.

Soon after they finished packing, and Oompa Loompa entered the room and said Kori's parents were there to pick her up. They walked to the front door, this time holding hands. Before Kori opened the door, she turned and looked into Willy's eyes. Even when he was in pain, he was still beautiful. Kori couldn't help herself. She grabbed the front of his jacket and gently pulled him down, lightly pressing her lips against his. She pulled back after a second and whispered in his ear. "Be strong," she said. Then she picked up her bag, walked out the door, and was gone.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: So I found out that "Corban" (from which Kori's name deviates), means "an offering to God" Mark 7:11…how interesting. Coincidentally, this verse is in the middle of a speech Jesus gives about honoring one's parents.

"Be strong," she said. Then she picked up her bag, walked out the door, and was gone. Willy was frozen where he stood, staring disbelievingly at the place where Kori had just been.

_Be strong, she said. Be strong?! But…that's what I have you for…_Willy felt his chest constrict, and his eyes began to water. He brought a gloved hand up and lightly touched his lips. _That wasn't really so bad…but, I don't like when Slugworth does it…I don't understand…So that was it then. I'll probably never see her again. What have I done? Why did they take her away from me? I finally make a friend and I lose her. I'll never touch another person again, as long as I live. No matter how much I like them. Everything I ever touch, I lose…and we weren't even together that long, but what am I going to do now? I've never felt so sad before...and this other feeling…what is this? I want to cry and scream and throw things, but I don't have the energy all of a sudden…_

Willy was interrupted from his thoughts by faint music. He turned around to see several Oompa Loompas twirling down the hallway. He got angry. "Don't even think about it! How dare you?! Leave me!" He clenched his fists and stomped down the hall like an angry child, glaring at the Oompa Loompas, who had all frozen in place with scared looks on their tiny brown faces. Willy continued stomping until he was all the way to his room. He removed his coat and hat and tossed them on the bed. Then he strode to the sofa and sat on it forcefully. He put his face in his hands and ran his fingers through his immaculate hair, not bothering to fix misplaced strands. He groaned as the tears that had formed earlier began to fall. He knew it was ok to be sad because Kori was gone, but he truly didn't understand why his chest felt like it would implode. He didn't sleep that night.

He didn't sleep for many nights.

The Oompa Loompas were worried about him. He wasn't coming out with any new candies, and he wasn't putting any effort into advertising old ones, so sales were going down. Angry stockholders would often call the factory asking him what his problem was, telling him if he couldn't function without having a little bitch around, they would gladly ship their Wonka-crazed wives, girlfriends, or teenage daughters. Willy would only feign interest in their complaints, and would get offended and hang up when someone mentioned Kori in a negative way. He wasn't spending time in the garden either. To him, it lost his beauty now that he no longer had someone to share it with. He talked to his psychiatrist a couple of times, but the wise Oompa Loompa was not much of a help. All he ever asked was _why_ Willy was feeling a certain way. How was Willy supposed to know? Wasn't the psychiatrist supposed to tell him that? All Willy knew was that nothing could bring him even the slightest bit of happiness, especially not the things he enjoyed with Kori. He avoided sleep, because he couldn't sleep without dreaming about her. His dreams often became nightmares…

_Willy and Kori were lying in their favorite spot under the cherry trees, laughing and smiling. Kori suddenly rolled over on top of Willy, pressing herself against him and looking into his eyes. As many times as he had seen it, Willy could never understand what her expression meant. Sure, he knew that it was a sad expression, but he didn't understand the cause for it. There was a pain in her eyes that shot through his heart like an arrow. There were tears as well, but she would smile faintly as soon as Willy ever noticed the moist sparkle at the corners of her eyes. She shifted her weight so their eyes were more level, and Willy remembered that she was on top of him. She wasn't heavy, but her soft, warm weight against him made his heart race and his blood boil. She leaned down and let her lips hover right above his, he could feel her light breaths and feel her whisper something. He opened his mouth to ask what she had said, but instead he was bombarded by the heady rush that resulted from her kissing him. His lungs were paralyzed in surprise as her soft, full lips worked against his. He allowed his eyes to flutter closed, and he sighed as she nibbled and sucked his lower lip. She trailed a few light kisses along his throat and jaw before claiming his lips again. Her kiss grew more insistent but no less gentle as she slowly snuck her tongue into his mouth. Willy moaned softly as their tongues fought and they explored each other's mouths. She tasted like honey. Her soft hands pushed open his jacket, vest, and shirt; she rested her warm hands against his chest and lightly stroked his skin with her fingertips. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer against himself. His heart was pounding and every drop of his blood seemed to be rushing in the general direction of his groin. Kori must have noticed, because she ground her hips against his, causing him to blush and moan and her to smile against his mouth. _

_She removed her lips from his to kiss his throat again, and he opened his eyes so he could look at her. He stopped breathing, lying on top of him, grinning wickedly, was Slugworth. Willy tried to scream, but there was nothing but silence. He struggled and tried to back out from underneath the larger, older man. Slugworth smirked and grabbed Willy's throat, crashing his mouth against Willy's and bruising his lips. As Willy continued to struggle, Slugworth's grip tightened, restricting Willy's breathing and bringing tears to his eyes. As Slugworth forced his shirt further open, Willy turned his head and saw Kori a few feet away from him. She had heavy chains around her legs and her parents were holding her back, but she was struggling against them, trying to get to him. She was crying, and he could see her mouth calling out to him. Willy tried to reach out for her, but she was too far away. Slugworth smirked and raked his nails down Willy's torso and thighs, causing the chocolatier to arch his back and cry out in pain; each scratch burned as if it were filled with white-hot electricity. Kori saw this, and increased her efforts in getting to him. Her father, having a hard time restraining her, brought the back of his fist crashing down against her temple. Kori's body crumpled and spun as she fell upon the minty green grass. Willy momentarily forgot about Slugworth's painful ministrations and screamed Kori's name, violently hitting, kicking, and twisting against his assailant. A dark, looming figure moved into his line of vision, blocking his view of Kori. It was the judge. At the same time that Slugworth painfully tore into Willy's body, the judge brought his gavel down, hard, against Willy's skull, knocking him unconscious._

Willy screamed and sat up in his bed. He was sweaty and shaky, and his body hurt because every muscle he had was extremely tense. He let out a shaky breath and ran his fingers through his tousled hair. He groaned as his eyes became watery. He was so fatigued it hurt; all he wanted was to be able to sleep for just one night without dreaming about her or having a nightmare. He got out of bed and headed over to a cabinet near his fireplace, his sweat-drenched pajamas clinging to his shaky limbs. He opened the cabinet, carefully taking out a bottle of good wine and a glass. He lit the fireplace and filled the glass as he sat down on the sofa. He rested his free arm across the back of the sofa and took one sip of wine before going into a sort of daze, staring into the flames and his mind going blank.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: so sorry that I took so long to update! School was getting so busy! But I thought about all of you often, so now that I have a little time here's another chappie.

Kori climbed into the back seat of her parents' Mercedes. She didn't speak to them, and they did not speak to her. She only stared at her backpack, which she kept in her lap. She really didn't have many possessions, everything that meant anything to her belonged to both her and Willy, or simply was not a physical thing. It was dark and cold outside; there would probably be snow on the ground in the morning. Kori could not bear to look out the window, because every blurry light that sped past her only reminded her that she was farther away from her home, farther away from Willy. She felt like she had seemed in a hurry to leave the factory. It was somewhat true; she was afraid that if she had stayed with her lips against his for one more second, she might have done something that could get him in trouble. She became faintly aware that the radio had been playing, but only when her father turned it off.

It was only about twenty minutes from the factory to the suburban gated community in which Kori's parents lived. Each house was large and stately, only identifiable from each other by the color of brick, landscaping, or the shapes of windows and columns. The Mercedes pulled into a driveway and into a large, clean garage with two other expensive looking cars. Kori picked up her bag and climbed out of the car in silence, following her parents inside. In the living room, a tall young woman, about twenty one years old, played a violin. This was Kori's sister, Caroline, and playing violin was her "talent." Caroline had competed in beauty pageants since the girls were little, and her parents had deemed violin to be the "classiest, most elegant talent an accomplished young woman could have." Kori liked to listen to Caroline play, but during the nonmusical times they could not stand each other. Caroline was thin and graceful. She had wavy, sandy blonde hair that fell to her shoulder blades and accentuated her high cheekbones. She had blue eyes, which stood out against her golden skin because of long, perfect eyelashes. She was actually quite pretty, and since Kori had never seen her before, she stared at her for a moment. _Too bad she is not as pretty on the inside, like Willy._ Caroline paused her song and turned towards her sister, narrowing her eyes and flashing a venomous grin, flawless teeth visible past thin lips.

Caroline walked slowly towards Kori and gave her a once-over, her grin never faltering. She raised her eyebrows and said, "Shacking up with an older man. that's classy. Not."

Kori balled her fist and warned through clenched teeth, "Shut up, you don't know anything."

Kori's mother gave an awkard, open mouthed smile and stepped in front of her, breaking her glare. "Kori, dear, why don't you hang your coat up and help me make your bed?" Kori blinked at her, shot another glare at Caroline, and nodded her head. She shrugged off her jacket, but carried it upstairs with her instead of hanging it up. Her mother led her into a small guest bedroom with a queen sized bed, a chest of drawers, and an uncomfortable looking armchair. The colors were neutral and it felt uninviting. Kori's mother tossed a set of white sheets onto the bed and began working on the fitted sheet. Kori started on the flat sheet. Her mother interrupted the silence. "See, isn't this nice, working together? With you back in the house, we can be a family again."

Kori paused and took a deep breath. "I've never been treated as family. The only person who's ever treated me like anything more than dirt is Willy, and you took that away. Why?"

A flash of anger crossed her mother's eyes before being replaced by a mask of tenderness. "My daughters are beautiful, and I want them to be sophisticated, high-class members of society with well regarded connections. That man is a nutcase, and it is an embarrassment to this household for you to be living with him. People might think we condone eccentricity, which we most certainly do not." She huffed and smoothed the front of her blouse.

"No more embarrassing than having a blind daughter," Kori mumbled under her breath.

Her mother continued without acknowledging her, "What's more, the whole world saw the way you two were all over each other in the courtroom! And that whole bit about you being the only person who can 'touch' him was incredibly sketchy." She moved her hands a lot while she talked.

"That bit about him being raped was probably made up as well. He probably hired that ugly man to tell that story because he thought it would help him out." Caroline had been leaning against the doorframe, listening to the conversation with a hand on her hip. "As gorgeous as he is, and with the way he was able to brainwash you so easily, he probably seduced whoever it was and cried rape later so he wouldn't look like a dirty whore. Of course, if I had been in that courtroom he would have to cry rape for real." She made a weird growling noise and licked her lips, much like a cat.

Kori was disgusted, "Don't talk about him like that!"

Caroline laughed when she saw that Kori was flustered. "What a dumb, loyal little puppy you are. It's kind of cute. Mother, would you like to help me go through the address book and write invitations for the Valentines party?" She turned to Kori with an air of self-importance, "Every year, we have a huge, fabulous party on Valentine's Day with dancing, music, cocktails, and chocolate. We invite some of the most prominent members of the community, and everyone who doesn't get invited is always really jealous. We've got to decide which politicians and CEOs are worthy of our attention this year, so we'll be leaving you to your little amusements now. Toodles." Caroline and her mother locked arms and left the room, closing the door behind them.

Kori's energy left her body as soon as the door closed. She sunk onto the bed and crawled under the covers, not bothering to change clothes. She couldn't sleep though; she tossed and turned for hours until eventually she had kicked all of the sheets off of the bed. She turned her pillow sideways and lay her head on it, resting her hand on it. She closed her eyes and imagined that it was Willy's chest. She envisioned that they were lying together in the grass under the cherry trees, pink blossoms falling around them and the noise of the waterfall in the background. This image soothed her and she sighed, finally drifting off into a deep, sleep.

Over the next few weeks, Kori daydreamed a lot and went to bed early so she could dream that she was at the factory. She saved every newspaper clipping she could find that had to do with Willy or his candy sales. She also gave the factory's address to Liz and Phoebe. They wrote letters to Willy on her behalf, and he would reply to them. Kori kept all of his replies, and would read them when she felt sad. She could tell through his words that he was trying to be strong, but he mentioned that he was depressed and had trouble sleeping. As time passed, his letters became more and more hopeless. He also hadn't come out with a new candy since she had left, which made her very worried. The letter that hurt Kori the most came a couple of days before the Valentine's Day party:

Dear Phoebe,

I haven't slept or eaten in days. The Oompa Loompas aren't talking to me right now either, because I've been throwing things and telling them to leave me alone. I've got some bruises on me right now because I keep running into things, but I can't feel anything because I just don't pay attention. I don't pay attention to colors anymore either; everything might as well be grey. Sometimes I get to thinking but that makes me shake, and I have some wine to stop shaking. I keep getting letters from parents trying to convince me that I should let their child be my apprentice. I get a lot of marriage proposals in the mail too, but I don't reply to any of those letters. I feel like this factory is a waste now. Maybe I will close it for good this time. There won't be anyone to care for it or the Oompa Loompas when I die anyway…

He hadn't even signed the letter. There was just a wine colored fingerprint on the corner, he had probably spilled his glass and grabbed the letter before it was completely ruined. Kori cried when she read this letter. He had given up on being strong, hope, and even life. It was the first time he had ever mentioned death, and it made Kori afraid that he would try to kill himself.

Kori expressed these feelings to Liz, who immediately had an idea. "Let's send him all of the pictures of you two that I've drawn! That should make him feel a lot better, and he can hang them up all over the place so it's like he can see you everywhere!" Although she had forgotten what most of the pictures looked like, Kori would agree to anything that she hoped would cheer Willy up.

A/N: Kind of short, but I'll try to update again soon.


	14. Chapter 14

Kori stood behind her parents, pretending to be listening to the meaningless bragging of the bigwigs they introduced her to. Doctors, congressmen, CEOs, pharmaceutical reps, all they talked about was money, cars, houses, or vacations. Occasionally one of them would mention that they had brought their handsome sons with them, and that Kori should date them. She politely declined these offers and eventually made her way to the outer edges of the ballroom. She silently cursed the ridiculous poofy pink dress her mother had insisted she wear. She found an unoccupied table in the shadows and sat down, kicking off her heels and leaning on her elbows, sighing. The whole place was decked out in shades of red and pink lace and satin, with heart shaped glitter all over the tables and the bartenders were dressed as baby cupids. Kori's mind drifted back to the New Year's party she and Willy had hosted. Just one drink had gotten Willy loosened up enough to dance close to her. She thought about his letter, that he was drinking to calm himself down. She wished he wouldn't hurt himself like that.

A male voice interrupted her thoughts. "This is the first time I have seen you all night, darling. What is wrong?" The European accent sounded familiar. Kori looked up to see a tall, thin young man with dark spiked hair and tanned skin. She looked at him in confusion. "You have never seen me before. I am Sebastian, protégé of Mr. Slugworth. He is here as well. He has not seen you yet either, although he has been looking for you…So you remember me now, I see." Kori had stood up and was slowly backing away from the table, glaring at Sebastian. "Relax. Sit back down, I have brought you a drink. I have some things to tell you." He set a Pink Lady on the table in front of her chair. She sat.

"I'd like to apologize for everything my benefactor has done to you." He said, taking a sip from his own drink. "He's doing it because he wants to destroy Mr. Wonka and take his factory."

Kori was confused. "Why are you telling me this? The most trouble we have had from him is the day he wanted the Gobstopper recipe, and it was pretty obvious that he wants to put Willy out of business." She picked up her own drink and took a sip. "This tastes like punch."

Sebastian chuckled. "It does, but I'm talking about what's going on right now. It was Mr. Slugworth who convinced your parents that they wanted custody of you. They argued with him at first, saying that you were nothing but a nuisance before and that they were glad you were a pain in someone else's ass now. They didn't even want to claim that they knew you, because they felt that Mr. Wonka's…uniqueness…would rub off on you and be an embarrassment."

Kori huffed. "I knew it! They don't care about me! How did he convince them?"

Sebastian smiled. "He said that he planned on acquiring the factory by telling Mr. Wonka that you wanted an 'advance' in your inheritance, and that you had hired your parents' attorney to help you claim the factory, but that would just be a threat." He took another sip.

Kori was outraged. "That bastard! He wanted to make me look like a traitor! Does he have any idea what that would do to Willy?" She slammed her fist on the table, causing a couple at another table to look their way and start whispering.

Sebastian glanced at the gossiping couple and continued as casually as before, crossing his legs. "He knows exactly what it would do. His hope is that with you gone, Mr. Wonka will become depressed and lose interest in anything that reminds him of you. I.E, candy."

Kori interrupted, "So how did he convince my parents?"

"I'm getting to that. He promised them a share in the factory's profits. He also convinced them that by appearing to be concerned for your wellbeing, they would be held in much higher esteem by their peers. Meanwhile, Slugworth plans on buying the factory while Mr. Wonka's morale is in the trench and 'kindly' offering him a place to stay in his home, where he can easily take advantage of Mr. Wonka's physical weakness. In the end, Slugworth wins huge profits and a love doll that he seems to have a really unnerving obsession with, if you ask me."

Kori was disgusted, but not surprised. "Bastard. Why did you tell me this?"

Sebastian replied, "Because I do not approve of his Machiavellian cruelty. And his twisted obsession with corrupting that innocent straight man makes the rest of us look bad."

"Us?" Kori tilted her head.

"Homosexuals, darling. Anyway, you look depressed. Let's dance, I know you know how to shake that little ass." He winked.

Kori blushed. "Um…okay, I feel like a ridiculous pink cupcake in this dress though."

Sebastian laughed and grabbed her hand, dragging her out to the floor. "Girlfriend, I know how you feel. You look like a damn fool, I don't know what your mother was thinking!"

They danced together for the rest of the night, Kori's heart felt a little lighter watching Sebastian dance like a queen. She was glad to know that he was a good person, despite having close ties with someone so evil. It brought her a glimmer of hope, although she hoped that even though he was isolated, Willy could find hope too and save himself and the factory.

Little did she know, a photographer had been paying close attention to them with his camera.

A/N: Really short…


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Studying for a job I'm trying to get, not much free time. Willy's POV.

"I SAID no thank you! I would NOT like to read junk mail while I'm eating breakfast!" Willy grumbled through clenched teeth, glaring at the poor Oompa Loompa who had tried to bring him his mail.

"Boss, I'm not sure it's junk--" the tiny person started.

"Get Out!" Willy shouted. The Oompa Loompa dropped the stack of mail he was holding and scurried out of the room. Willy slumped over onto the table, leaning on his elbow and running a gloved hand through already tangled hair. He idly clinked the stirring spoon around in his empty coffee mug, letting his eyes wander around the room. A thin magazine caught his eye from among the letters and bills the Oompa Loompa had abandoned in his escape. It was a tabloid, and Kori was on the cover of it. She was depicted slow dancing with a familiar looking young man. The headline read, "Candy Heir's New Flavor of the Day." Willy thumbed through a few pages of "bigfoot shaved my mother's cousin's best friend's cat" garbage until he found the story he was looking for. There were more pictures of Kori and the young man. In one, he was holding her hand, presumably pulling her towards the dance floor, and she was reaching to leave her drink on a table, a faint smile gracing her lips. In another picture, she and the young man were dancing cheek to cheek, hand in hand, and he was pointing at something across the room, both of them smirking. Yet another picture showed them dancing in a faster looking style, and he was leaning over whispering in her ear, and she was raising an eyebrow. He read the caption:

"Kori Gibson, heir to Wonka Industries, dances the night away at an annual Valentine's Dance hosted by her family. However, she only had eyes for Sebastian Molinero, heir of Slugworth Candy Corporation. The two were seen chatting and enjoying drinks together. Looks like all that chocolate made them feel romantic. Maybe this new love will bridge the gap between longtime rivals, Wonka and Slugworth."

The last thing Willy remembered was throwing his mug against the wall, smashing it to pieces.

"Boss, you ok? You passed out from being overheated or something." A concerned Oompa Loompa loomed over him.

Willy chuckled half-heartedly. He was amazed that the Oompa Loompas still cared about him even though he hadn't been treating them right. "Sorry…I think I'm okay." He sat up and scratched the back of his head.

The Oompa Loompa raised an eyebrow. "Okay enough to take a phone call?" he asked.

"Uh…sure, I guess." Willy took the phone that the Oompa Loompa was holding under his nose and answered, "Wonka speaking."

"Hello sweetie," came Slugworth's familiar, patronizing tone.

"Ugh, look. I'm not interested, leave me alone." Willy made to hang up the phone.

Slugworth was too fast for him. "That girl of yours is something else, you know? She could be a big deal in this industry."

Willy was confused. "What are you talking about?" He stood up and started walking towards his office, taking the pile of mail with him.

"Think about it. She learned about candy from the best of the best…" The old man started.

"Look, I don't need your flattery. You're wasting my time." Willy interrupted.

"I'm not finished yet, boy." That patronizing tone again. It got on Willy's nerves. "Unlike you, she can be very charming. Especially over the phone. Even you have to admit that one of the reasons your sales went up was because she had your clients wrapped around her little fingers every time you made her answer phone calls."

Willy paused to think. "That's true, actually."

Slugworth continued, "Think about it. She's obviously not as brilliant an inventor as you, but she's good. She's sweet as a doll and carries some of your mystery that fuels curiosity and draws people to her. She'll claim an even bigger stake for the candy industry by showing the world that it's universal, and not just for handsome geniuses and the greedy old men who lust after them."

Willy snorted, "Look, you're creepy, and some of those words are what I told the press after I chose her. I know you're about to twist them for your own purposes, so don't even try."

Slugworth did his best to sound put out. "Aww, you're no fun at all. Look, I called out of concern for you. You and I both know that right now your sales are in the toilet, and you've been under a lot of stress lately. Why don't you go ahead and retire while you're still young, and let the girl take over? All the stress isn't good for your health; it might detract from your good looks."

Willy growled, "Stop hitting on me already! Look, Kori can't legally run this factory until she's eighteen."

"But my boy Sebastian can. He's old enough. Surely you've seen the tabloids, don't you think they make a smart match?"

"Shut up," Willy managed to say through clenched teeth.

"It looks to me like she's making a smart business move. All she needs to do is partner with someone old enough to run a business and then take what's hers. She'll catapult into the sky in no time." Slugworth sounded smug.

"She wouldn't do that." Willy said half heartedly.

"It seems to me like the first phase of her little plan is already in motion. Of course," Slugworth paused, "To make sure their transition into full time candy makers and businesspeople, I'll make sure to offer them all the wise advice that I can. After all, I have been Sebastian's mentor for a good while now."

Willy didn't want to believe a word Slugworth said, but at the same time there were pictures of _his_ Kori looking happy with another man. _Has she really been playing me this whole time?_ He stared at the pictures, trying to find some evidence that Kori was miserable without him. _I guess she's getting along fine without me…_He spoke his last thoughts aloud. "What will happen to me? Will she just throw me out into the cold? Where would I go?"

"Hard to say, love. There is that whole restraining order to consider." Willy had forgotten that he was still on the phone. "My doors are always open." There was a click. Willy put the phone down and sank to the floor, his mind blank yet racing at the same time.

_I've been betrayed. How could I have been so stupid? Was she planning this from the start? Did she lie about being homeless and use me to cure her blindness? Was that kiss, and all those hugs and touches, were they only meant to keep me under her spell? Everything I've ever felt…it was all part of her game! A waste! She's a liar and a traitor and a thief! Well, I won't play this game anymore! No one is going to steal my heart or my factory, ever!_

On the counter, with the rest of the mail that Willy forgot about, was a paper-sized manila envelope. If Willy had opened it, he would have found the pictures that Kori and her friends had drawn along with an explanation for the pictures in the tabloid, written by Kori herself.

A/N: I guess being a borderline alcoholic turned Willy into a borderline dumbass.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: sorry for not updating

"Stop asking already, I'm sorry. I haven't gotten a single thing in the mail." Phoebe was clearly getting tired of Kori's persistent nagging. She shoved her hands into the pocket of her raincoat and kicked a pile of leaves.

Kori looked imploringly to Liz. "Not a peep," her friend confessed as she shrugged her shoulders.

Kori clenched her fists around her closed umbrella. "I don't understand! It's been weeks since we sent him those pictures, and he hasn't sent us a letter telling us how he's doing. This is so unlike him. I hope he's okay."

Liz patted her on the shoulder. "I'm sure he's fine. Maybe he's onto a new invention or something. Don't worry yourself."

_Easier said than done_, Kori thought. they continued to walk in silence. They had a half day at school, and had decided to walk home. It was late November, and the trees had already shed most of their leaves. The more her friends told her to not worry about Willy, the more she worried about him. She couldn't shake the words from his last letter to Phoebe out of her mind. He wasn't well, and she knew that. All she wanted to do was hold him and bring him back to life. She felt the need to be near him so much that it hurt more as every day passed.

The wind picked up a bit as a familiar voice called out from behind them. "Kori! Girls!" They turned around to see a tall, tanned young man pedaling a bike towards them. He waved, but by he did not smile. He rode in front of them and skidded to a halt. "I have bad news, ladies. Slugworth has planted the seed. He seems confident that he will soon be able to convince Mr. Wonka to hand over the factory to me. He's telling him that you'll marry me and I'll end up running the factory anyway, so he should just go ahead and retire. He wants Mr. Wonka to move in with him." Sebastian said all of this in one breath, when he finished he was breathing hard as if he had just run a mile.

Liz and Phoebe only stared between the two of them; Kori shook her head. "Willy…he can't just give up the factory! It's his life!"

Sebastian nodded sadly. "I know, but apparently you are just as important to him as the factory. Why else would he have slid so far downhill after you left?"

Kori took Sebastian aside looked him in the eye. "I've got almost two months before I can do anything. Is there anything you can do to delay it?"

Sebastian nodded. "I'll tell Slugworth I plan on marrying you next summer, and that I'm not interested in taking over the factory until you can be my legal business partner."

Kori's eyes lit up with understanding. "When I turn eighteen…"

They hurriedly whispered plans back and forth, then parted ways. Sebastian rode on ahead of them and Kori joined Phoebe and Liz to continue walking.

"Hey Kori, how did Sebastian know where to find us?" Liz asked.

Kori's eyes widened. "Huh, I don't know. I didn't even think to ask…"

They shrugged in unison and kept walking.

A/N: I love it when a plan comes together, next chapter.


	17. Chapter 17

The school day passed in a blur. It was Friday, January 12. She barely paid attention to any of the Wonka fanatics wishing her happy birthday in the hallway. When she went home, she barely paid attention to her parents jabbering about her birthday party the next day. She felt sick and dizzy, so she went to bed early.

Her alarm went off at a quarter to midnight. Still in her pajamas, she climbed out of bed as silently as possible. She grabbed her backpack and jammed a change of clothes in with her books. She tied her sheets together as securely as she could and silently opened her window. Sheets in hand, she precariously climbed out the window to the branch of the pine tree outside. When she felt sure that she wouldn't topple off the branch, she glanced down to the street corner and saw a black car waiting with its lights off. She one end of the sheets around the branch and crossed her heart, taking a deep breath. She shimmied down to the end of the makeshift rope and dropped the extra foot to the bushes below. She crouched behind the bushes and listened to make sure no one had heard her, and began to slowly crawl between the bushes and the house so no one would see her unless they stuck half their body out a window. By the time she had made it to the corner of the house, beyond the view from any bedrooms, she was covered in dirt and scratches from the bushes. She got up and sprinted on her tiptoes to the car on the corner, then opened the passenger door, climbed in, and shut it as quietly as possible.

"Right on time," said the driver. "Now, let's get out of here, shall we?"

Kori looked at Sebastian and nodded, and Sebastian only barely pressed the gas pedal until they were well out of earshot from her house. "Thanks for helping me, Sebastian."

"No problem. Honey, you look a mess. You need to get cleaned up." He laughed as they turned out of the neighborhood. "Let's go to one of those rent-by-the hour motels and get you a shower."

"Do we have time, what if they come looking for us?" Kori was hesitant.

"We should have a few hours if no one heard us." Sebastian got Kori to agree and they drove to a seedy motel. The clerk leered at Kori as he handed them the room key. Sebastian put his arm around her protectively and winked at the hairy, sweaty clerk suggestively before leading Kori back to a small, dirty room.

The bathroom was filthy, but Kori managed to scrub the dirt off and wash her hair. When she got out of the shower, she threw her pajamas in the trash and put on her clean clothes. She walked back into the bedroom and Sebastian had a cup of coffee waiting for her.

"Thanks again for helping me." Kori said as she accepted the coffee.

"No problem. I just can't stand by and let my boss do this to people, you know?"

Kori took a few sips and swirled the coffee around in the cup, hoping that in a little while she would be sipping Willy's delicious coffee with him once again. She looked up at Sebastian, concerned. "What will you do when Slugworth finds out you helped me? What will he do to you?"

"I'm not sure what Slugworth will do, but I don't plan on working for him forever, anyway. I only want to learn as much as I can and then become a pastry chef." Sebastian said as he poured a cup of coffee for himself. "Oh!" He twitched his hips and reached into his pocket, pulling his phone out. "Speak of the devil…hello? Nothing…I just felt like getting a bite to eat…I—what?! Kori, time to go." Sebastian slammed his phone shut as Kori jumped up and grabbed her bag.

"What did he say? What's going on?" She asked as she followed him out into the motel parking lot, where Sebastian immediately jumped in the car and started it. Kori scrambled into the passenger seat just in time for Sebastian to burn rubber out of the parking lot.

"That was Slugworth. He knows I'm gone, he knows it's your birthday, and he has called your parents and the police. They'll charge me with kidnapping." He explained frantically as they sped down the street.

"No they won't, either. You'll come into the factory with me until the coast is clear." Sebastian's speed made Kori nervous, so she fumbled with her seatbelt until she finally got it buckled. They sped along unbothered until the factory gate came into view. "Turn here!" Kori commanded as Sebastian slowed down and turned into a back alley. "Stop!" He slammed on the brakes and they skidded to a halt in front of an inconspicuous looking door, about two feet in height.

Kori jumped out of the car and knelt in front of the door; she began to pound on it until it opened just a crack. "It's me, Kori! Let me in, please!" Kori whispered. The door opened the rest of the way and Kori turned to Sebastian, who was still in the running car. "Come on, come inside." She motioned at him.

Sebastian shook his head. "No, I'm going to drive around for a while so they follow the car instead of coming here. Go on without me."

"But Sebastian! What about the police?" Kori begged.

"I'll be fine, I'll contact you when all is settled." He said as he backed the car out of the alley.

Kori stood up and waved, "Thank you! For everything!" she waved until the car was completely out of sight before kneeling again and crawling through the door. Once inside, she closed it behind her and whispered into the darkness. "Where is everyone?" A tiny glimmer of light appeared a few feet away as an Oompa Loompa lit his miniature flashlight. He motioned with the flashlight for her to follow him, and she crawled on her hands and knees after the light until they were in a hallway that Kori recognized. She stood and stretched and looked down at the Oompa Loompa. He pointed down the hallway.

"Thank you." She said and walked off in the direction he had pointed. She trudged down the hall until she spotted a slightly open door, Willy's bedroom. She stepped towards the door and took a deep breath before quietly pushing the door open. She stuck her head in and looked around for Willy. He was on the sofa in front of the fireplace. He was not wearing his hat, and the back of his hair looked ruffled. He was not wearing his coat either, and had one paisley-sleeved arm propped across the back of the sofa. Kori's heart skipped a beat and she tiptoed up until she was only a couple feet away from him. She reached towards his shoulder but before she could touch him—

"How did _you_ get here?" His icy tone burned like acid and she withdrew her hand, taking a step back.

"I—Sebastian drove me." She could not keep herself from sounding confused.

"_Sebastian_…" he hissed in the same icy tone before he suddenly stood up and walked around the sofa, towards Kori. "That's right, today is your birthday, isn't it? You've come to take the factory away from me, because you can legally run it now." He loomed over her and she stepped back, slightly worried.

"No, I came back to…" She stammered.

"You came back to kick me to the street so your _fiancé_ can move in and take over!" He raised his voice and octave.

"What? No, I…"

"LIAR! I know what game you're playing! You _used _me! You tricked me into healing you and teaching you and loving you and you only planned to pull it out from underneath me! You planned on marrying Sebastian and taking over the factory! You were going to give it to Slugworth!"

Kori was flabbergasted, "Willy! That's not true!"

"Like hell it isn't! You're here now to take it away from me! You were probably taking orders from Slugworth the whole time! You're nothing but a filthy, lying, _TRAITOR!_"

A loud SMACK resounded throughout the room. Kori withdrew her hand to her chest and glared at Willy with tears forming in her eyes. It was now Willy's turn to wear the wide-eyed, what-is-going-on? expression. He gingerly touched his cheek to soothe the sting. All Kori could say was "How _dare_ you!" before she turned and marched towards the door to hide that she couldn't control her pain anymore. Willy crossed the room, fury in his eyes, in just a couple of strides to catch up with her and grabbed her wrist, forcing her to turn around and face him as he grabbed her other wrist. Kori looked down to avoid his gaze and collapsed to her knees, finally allowing herself to cry. Willy knelt in front of her, relaxing his vice grip on her wrists and holding her hands to his chest, his expression softening as well.

Kori doubled over and sobbed into his lap, "How could you…believe for one second…that I would ever betray you? All this time I've waited to come home to you and you…" her next words were incomprehensible through her sobs.

Willy let go with one of his gloved hands to gently lift her chin towards him, his heart twisting as he looked into her tearful, bloodshot eyes. He looked at her for a few seconds before whispering softly, "I'm sorry." He bent down and lightly touched his lips to hers before freeing her other wrist to wipe a tear from her cheek. His touch on her cheek sent shivers down her spine, and her eyes widened in surprise that he had touched her at all. She looked up at his hurt expression, hoping that she would never have to see that look on his face again.

She rose up on her knees enough to gently reach up and hold the back of his neck. She leaned up and kissed him again, moaning when he wrapped his arms around her and intensified the kiss. She pressed herself against him, lightly tangling her fingers in his hair and skimming her tongue along his plump lower lip. He parted his lips to allow her access, and her tongue greedily explored his mouth, tasting him. She was surprised to find that he tasted like peanuts rather than chocolate, and she smiled against his mouth.

Feeling her smile, Willy pulled away and raised an eyebrow, "Something funny?" he asked.

She grinned wider, "You taste like peanuts."

He smiled wide as he leaned in to kiss her again, lightly nibbling on her lips. She let her hands run up and down his arms and torso, feeling his musculature through the fabric of his shirt. She lifted her hand and softly ran her fingertip along his jaw line to the first button of his shirt. He inhaled sharply at her touch and pulled back to look into her questioning eyes. He nodded, and Kori began to unfasten the buttons as she kissed his neck, smiling at his gasps when she lightly nipped the soft skin just behind his ear.

Once Kori had completely unbuttoned his shirt, she took a minute to sit back and admire her handiwork. Willy was on sitting on the floor, leaning against the back of the sofa. He was panting lightly through his red, kiss-swollen lips. His open shirt showed his pale, toned chest. She reached up to push the shirt away from his shoulders as she kissed along his collarbone. Her hands roamed all along his arms and back, and she moaned softly at the pure silkiness of his flawless skin. She made her way down his chest with her kisses, pausing to lightly suck each of his nipples. She grazed them with her teeth, and he arched his back, reaching up to tangle his fingers in her hair. He pulled her back up to kiss her again, crushing his mouth against hers and breathing hard. Pressing her body against his, she could feel his heart pounding through his ribcage. She could also feel something a little lower trying to escape as well. He moaned when she ground her hips against it.

Without missing a beat, Willy wrapped his arms around her and grabbing onto her bottom, lifting her from the ground as he stood up with her legs wrapped around his waist. Still kissing her intensely, he carried over to his large, plush bed and laid her down on it. With her legs still around him, he ground his hips against hers in need. Kori ran her hand down his chest, stopping at his belt buckle. He pulled away and stood up, looking at her through half-lidded eyes as he fumbled to remove his shoes, socks, belt, and pants. When he was left in just his boxers, Kori smiled at him as he took a deep breath and removed those as well, leaving him completely naked before her. Kori sighed, he was so beautiful! His body was slender, yet there was hidden strength in his toned muscles. He had a long, graceful neck. There was no hair on his chest, and it was sparse on his arms and legs. He stood on narrow, elegant feet that were attached to long, lean legs. Where they joined, his erection was roughly seven inches long, and a little over one inch in diameter.

Kori looked him approvingly as he climbed back onto the bed and kissed her neck, pushing his warm hands beneath her sweater and pulling it over her head. He did the same with the tank top she had worn instead of a bra, letting his hands roam every inch of newly exposed skin in the process. He trailed his kisses down her neck and chest, licking her breasts along the way. As he teased her nipples with his hot tongue, his hands worked open the fly of her jeans, pushing them and her underwear down her hips. She helped him out by kicking off her shoes, and soon she too was naked on his bed. He covered her body with his, keeping her warm as he showered her lips, jaw, neck, and collarbone with soft kisses. He sucked her lower lip as he pressed his palm against her core.

"Aah!" She moaned and arched her back, pressing more against his hand. She was reduced to incoherent whimpering as he slid a finger inside her slick entrance, pumping it in and out. She moaned again with a mixture of pleasure and pain as he inserted a second finger, stretching her. He kissed and nipped the skin behind her ear, making her arch again when he increased the pace of his fingers, occasionally bending them to hit her sweet spot.

"So…close…" She breathed. He removed his fingers, making her whimper at the loss.

He whispered softly into her ear, "I love you." He lifted his head and looked into her eyes askingly.

"I love you too. I always have." She replied.

He took on a serious tone. "Are you ready?"

She nodded, and he bent down to kiss her softly as the tip of his penis pressed against her entrance. He used his hand to guide himself into her, and she whimpered against his lips at the slight sting of being stretched. When he reached her barrier, he withdrew slightly. Taking a deep breath, he thrust his hips, tearing through the barrier and filling her completely, moaning as her cry reached his ear. He was still for a few moments, allowing her to adjust to the feeling of him inside her. When he felt her inner muscles tighten around him, he withdrew again, slowly this time, filling her again just as slowly. He continued his maddeningly slow pace for a while, looking into her eyes the whole time. She reached behind his head and pulled him towards her, kissing him as she wrapped her legs tighter around him. He continued the kiss, thrusting faster and deeper into her. Each time he was completely inside her, he hit a soft spot deep within her that made her gasp and moan. Soon he was thrusting so hard and deep that he was sure her moans could be heard throughout the factory. When he felt her muscles clench around him as she came, his thrusts became more shallow and frantic. With one final, deep thrust, he screamed her name as his warm juices filled her.

She looked up at him through her long eyelashes, and he smiled at her, stroking her face and planting light kisses on her forehead and eyelids. He removed himself from her, lying on his side beside her, wrapping his arms around her protectively as she began to dose off.

"Kori?" he asked quietly, lifting up to look her in the eye again.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Kori…will you marry me?"

She smiled, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "Yes."

He smiled as he leaned down to kiss her once more before wrapping his arms around her once more and drifting off to sleep…

The end!


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